Eight banks to auction collateral

DTZ hopes that the Taichung auction will have a strong turnout since the property market appears to be bottoming out. The company has scheduled a series of auctions: May 25 in Tainan, June 16 in Kaohsiung, June 22 in Tainan, June 29 in Taipei, July 20 in Taichung, July 27 in Taipei and August 17 in Kaohsiung.

A recent market survey published by the Sinyi Real Estate Inc (信義房屋) shows that the average price per ping edged up by NT$1,000 per ping to NT$161,000 over the preceding quarter, while the number of existing housing units sold in the same period also increased 16 percent from a quarter ago.

"If the current trend continues, the property market will soon recover," said Victor Chang (張欣民), a manager with a local chain of property brokers.