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MANILA - Philippine banks' exposure to the real estate sector in the first quarter rose by a fifth from a year ago to hit a record high, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Thursday.
In a statement, the BSP said lenders' exposure to the property industry amounted to P538.1 billion at end-March. This was 3.8 percent higher than the P518.6 billion at end-December, and 21 percent more than the P444.9 billion at end-March of last year.
The bulk of the exposure at 97.4 percent was in the form of real estate loans, with the balance comprising bank investments in the financial instruments issued by property companies.
Universal and commercial lenders accounted for 77 percent of the banking industry's exposure, with thrifts cornering 23 percent.
Real estate loans comprised 15 percent of the banking sector's total outstanding loans.
Non-performing real estate loans in the first quarter this year eased to 5.1 percent from the previous year's 6.1 percent, but picked up from the five percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.
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