Real estate, auto loans up 13% in September

MANILA, Philippines – Total residential real estate and auto loans continued to post double-digit growth rates in the first nine months of the year despite a slower economic growth brought about by the global economic crisis.

Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that the total real estate loans of universal, commercial, and thrift banks grew by 13.1 percent to P162.5 billion as of end-September this year from year-ago’s P143.7 billion.

Thrift banks cornered more than half of the total real estate loans with a share of 56.1 percent or P91.2 billion from January to September this year while universal and commercial banks accounted for the remaining 43.9 percent or P71.3 billion.

The total residential real estate loans accounted for 6.51 percent of the banking systems total loan portfolio of P2.496 trillion in the first nine months of the year, slightly higher than the 6.08 percent share of the system’s P2.362 trillion in the same period last year.

Likewise, the industry’s auto loans jumped by 17.4 percent to P90.6 billion from January to September compared with P77.2 billion in the same period last year due to the steady rise in vehicle sales.

Thrift banks including the subsidiaries and affiliates of universal and commercial banks cornered more than half of the auto loan business with a share of 52 percent while universal and commercial banks accounted for 47.8 percent followed by non-bank financial institutions with a share of 0.2 percent. –Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star)