RESIDENTIAL property prices in Metro Cebu continued to climb in the first quarter of 2026, extending their annual gains as the country’s housing market recovered from two consecutive quarters of decline, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The BSP’s Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) showed Metro Cebu residential property prices rose 9.4 percent year on year in the January-to-March period, faster than the 5.7-percent increase recorded across areas outside the National Capital Region (NCR). On a quarter-on-quarter basis, Metro Cebu prices edged up 1.3 percent, marking a fifth straight quarter of increases.
Nationwide, residential property prices increased by 4.5 percent from a year earlier and rebounded 5.6 percent from the previous quarter, reversing two straight quarters of contraction. The BSP said the recovery was led by stronger property prices in NCR and was supported by a broad-based improvement across major urban markets outside Metro Manila.
Within areas outside NCR, Metro Cebu posted the second-fastest annual price growth after the Balance Greater Manila Area, while Metro Mindanao recorded a 1.3-percent increase.
The central bank said condominium prices drove the nationwide recovery, rebounding strongly after three consecutive quarters of decline as developers offered aggressive promotions and more flexible payment terms, particularly for ready-for-occupancy units. House prices also posted modest gains.
Despite rising prices, demand for housing loans remained weak. In Metro Cebu, the number of residential real estate loans granted fell 23.6 percent year on year and 7.7 percent from the previous quarter for all housing types. Condominium loans dropped 25.4 percent annually and 15 percent quarter on quarter.
However, Metro Cebu stood out as the only major market to register a slight quarter-on-quarter increase in home loans for houses, suggesting resilient demand in the segment despite tighter lending conditions and higher property prices.
The BSP attributed the nationwide slowdown in loan growth to continued consumer caution toward home purchases and tighter bank credit standards for housing loans, even as sentiment improved slightly from the previous quarter.
The RPPI is the BSP’s official measure of changes in residential property prices based on bank-financed housing transactions. Beginning with the first quarter of 2025, it replaced the Residential Real Estate Price Index as the central bank’s benchmark for tracking movements in Philippine housing prices. / KOC