METRO Cebu residential property prices posted the sharpest quarterly decline among major urban markets in the Philippines in the third quarter of 2025, underscoring a broader cooling in the housing market even as bank lending for home purchases continued to expand, official data showed.
Nationwide, residential property prices rose 1.9 percent year on year in the third quarter, sharply slower than the 7.5 percent growth recorded in the previous quarter, according to the Residential Property Price Index compiled by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Prices fell 3.8 percent quarter on quarter, marking the steepest quarterly contraction since the index was introduced in 2019.
Outside the National Capital Region (NCR), price pressures eased markedly. In Areas Outside NCR, prices rose just 1.6 percent from a year earlier, a sharp deceleration from double-digit growth in the second quarter, while quarter-on-quarter prices dropped 5.9 percent.
Metro Cebu remained among the country’s faster-growing markets on an annual basis, with prices up 3.8 percent year on year, trailing only Metro Mindanao’s 5.5 percent gain. But on a quarterly basis, Metro Cebu recorded an eight percent drop — the largest among major regions and its steepest decline since 2019 — reflecting weakening short-term momentum.
Analysts said the sharper pullback outside Manila suggests buyers are becoming more price-sensitive after years of strong gains, while developers in secondary cities adjust pricing amid softer demand conditions.
In contrast, the NCR continued to support national prices, with residential values up 2.3 percent year on year, though prices edged down 0.8 percent from the previous quarter.
By housing type, house prices nationwide rose 1.9 percent year on year but fell 5.7 percent quarter on quarter, the biggest decline for houses since 2019. Condominium prices showed a modest annual rebound of 1.4 percent, though they still slipped 1.4 percent from the previous quarter. In Metro Cebu and other regions outside NCR, houses saw the steepest quarterly corrections, while condominium prices declined more moderately.
Despite falling prices, housing demand indicators remained firm. The number of residential real estate loans granted by banks rose 24.6 percent year on year in the third quarter, supported by improved consumer sentiment and banks’ more positive outlook on housing credit.
Loan growth was strongest outside NCR, where approvals climbed 31.7 percent year on year. Within this group, Balance Greater Manila Area led with a 47.8 percent increase, followed by Metro Cebu with an 11 percent rise. On a quarterly basis, loan availments in Metro Cebu grew two percent, lagging other regions but remaining positive.
Condominium loans expanded fastest, with nationwide approvals surging 50.8 percent year on year, driven largely by a sharp increase outside NCR. Loans for houses rose a more modest nine percent, with growth concentrated outside Metro Manila.
The median price of residential properties nationwide stood at P3.46 million in the third quarter. NCR houses remained the most expensive segment, with a median price exceeding P7.3 million, while houses in other provincial areas were priced at less than P2.7 million.
Economists said the data point to a market entering a period of consolidation, with softer prices helping sustain loan demand, particularly in key urban centers such as Metro Cebu, even as developers and lenders turn more cautious heading into 2026. / KOC