Home shoppers appear to have more confidence in the surge of property prices as the first quarter's composite index jumped by 11.5 percent to 131 points from last quarter's 117.3 points, according to a Council for Economic Planning and Development survey.
The survey, which was released by the council's urban and housing development department on Wednesday, found that two-thirds of respondents who have bought houses said property prices are on the rise, while over 60 percent of home shoppers expressed the same view.
The survey on property demand was conducted between March 1 and March 15.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Far Glory Group chairman Far Glory Group (遠雄集團) chairman Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄) said the property market bottomed out last year after a 13-year long recession.
While the country's election political turmoil and China's plans to rein in its runaway economy have clouded the real-estate market, Chao said prospects will improve after the May 20 presidential inauguration and he expects the market to take off again next month.
According to the survey, the average age of home buyers has dropped to 37, with an average monthly income of between NT$30,000 and NT$60,000.
Over 54 percent of the surveyed home buyers were first-time buyers who bought their property for their own use. Nearly 30 percent of respondents were moving into new houses and 16 percent were simply investing in property.
More than 45 percent of res-pondents bought their properties in the secondary market while more than 35 percent preferred newly-built homes, the survey said. The majority favored houses measuring between 31 and 40 pings which cost between NT$2 million and NT$5 million.
Despite a bullish view about the property market, respondents were still hesitant to close deals since the survey found that they spent more time negotiating. Rising home prices mean that home buyers feel pressured by heavy mortgage payments, which account for 24.8 percent of their monthly incomes. Home prices average 5.6 times respondents' fixed incomes.
The survey also polled potential buyers and found the majority of them are between 35 and 45 years old with average monthly incomes of between NT$30,000 and NT$90,000.
Although the majority of shoppers are looking for houses measuring between 31 and 40 pings, the survey found an growing demand for bigger homes.
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