MANILA - Housing prices were higher by 7.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, according to data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
The central bank however also noted that compared to the third quarter, residential real estate prices of various types of new housing units across the country rose slower at 2.2 percent.
Prices climbed faster in the National Capital Region where residential real estate property prices grew by 16.1 percent, the central bank said.
“Meanwhile, in the Areas Outside the NCR (AONCR), residential property prices increased by 4.5 percent, with prices of all types of housing units rising, except for those of townhouses,” the BSP said.
The cost of new housing units in the NCR was also higher.
While the average appraised value of new housing units in the country stood at P74,776 per square meter (sqm) in Q4 2022, but for the NCR this was at P127,175 per sqm. The cost was higher than both the national average and the average appraised value in the AONCR at P49,475.
Meanwhile, Filipinos are borrowing less money from banks to buy houses.
The BSP noted that nationwide residential real estate loan availments for new housing units fell both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter.
Most of the housing loans granted in the NCR were used to buy condominium units, while loans granted outside the capital were for the single-detached/attached houses.
More than a third, or 33.7 percent, of housing loans were granted in the CALABARZON region. The NCR meanwhile got 30.5 percent of the total number of housing loans.
Central Luzon got 12.9 percent, Central Visayas got 6.9 percent, Western Visayas 5.9 percent, Davao Region 3 percent, and Northern Mindanao 1.5 percen).
“NCR and the said six regions combined accounted for 94.4 percent of total housing loans granted by banks,” the BSP noted.
The BSP began raising interest rates in 2022, from a record low of 2 percent to 6.25 percent in its last policy meeting. Hiking rates is meant to dampen inflation by making loans more expensive, thus dampening demand.