The Philippine residential market showed signs of a moderate recovery in the first quarter of 2025, with a 14 percent increase in condominium demand, according to the latest report from Leechiu Property Consultants.
This growth was driven by favorable policy rate cuts and attractive developer promotions, contributing to a total of 6,508 units taken up in Metro Manila.
LPC said the recent policy rate cuts implemented by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the anticipation of more, have helped ease buyer concerns and fuel property acquisitions.
But while demand picked up, new residential launches saw a sharp decline, dropping by 77 percent in first quarter of the year with only 1,347 units launched compared to 5,928 in the previous quarter.
LPC said developers are still focusing on marketing their existing inventory, particularly in the mid-range segment, before rolling out new projects. This cautious approach comes as the residential real estate market continues to recover from the pandemic.
According to LPC there are still 81,400 unsold residential units available in the Metro Manila market. which is equivalent to 38 months or three years of supply.
“We’ve seen a good start for the year for the residential market. But we need to move with caution for now due to very recent developments in the world capital markets,” LPC research director Roy Golez said.
To attract buyers, Golez said developers need to be more aggressive with their marketing, their promos, payment terms.
“For buyers, this will be a good time to research and take a deeper dive and look at the developer offerings. There might be a short window of opportunity to acquire property at favorable terms while supply is not yet at comfortable levels,” he added.
Golez however expressed concern that the recent global capital markets crash could temper recovering of residential demand.