Real estate loans of universal and commercial banks increased 22 percent in the first quarter to P1.317 trillion from P1.083 trillion a year ago, driven by strong demand both for residential and commercial properties, data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show.
The first-quarter real estate loans were also 3.2 percent higher than P1.276 trillion recorded in the fourth quarter.
Residential real estate loans jumped 21 percent in the first quarter to P322.9 billion from P266.10 billion a year ago, while commercial real estate loans climbed 22 percent to P994.85 billion from P817.78 billion.
Total loans for land developers and construction companies increased 23 percent to P528.87 billion as of end-March from P429.14 billion a year earlier.
Bangko Sentral has been monitoring the real estate exposures of universal, commercial and thrift banks as part of its broader role of assessing the quality of bank exposures to the different sectors of the economy. In early 2012, the regulator ordered banks to disclose more comprehensive reports on their exposures to the real estate sector. It set the limit on real estate loans at 20 percent of the bank’s total loan portfolio. Last year, the real estate exposure of Philippine banks hit 20.77 percent, driven primarily by strong property loans and investments.
