RESIDENTIAL property price growth markedly slowed in the fourth quarter of 2023 from a year earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported late on Wednesday.

Prices of new housing units grew by 6.5 percent, down from 12.9 percent three months earlier and actually contracted 3.6 percent quarter on quarter, the BSP said in a statement.

Appraised values averaged P89,042 per square meter, 19.1 percent more than a year earlier. It was P134,178 in the National Capital Region (NCR) and P65,186 in areas outside the metropolis.

Overall prices rose by 4.3 percent in the NCR while for the rest of the country these grew by a much higher 7.8 percent. Quarter on quarter, however, prices fell by 9.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

By housing type, single-detached/attached house prices grew by 9.5 percent year on year, followed by townhouses (4.9 percent) and condominium units (4.1 percent). Duplex housing units, meanwhile, saw prices plunge by 33.5 percent.

The results again reversed on a quarterly basis, with townhouses the only positive performer with 4.5-percent growth. Duplexes plunged by 42 percent while condominium units and single-detached houses fell by 8.6 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

Housing loans, meanwhile, surged by 30.5 percent. Growth was 38.5 percent in the NCR and 26 percent outside Metro Manila.

Quarter on quarter, loans picked up to 26.9 percent from 18.0 percent three months earlier.