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Housing market slipping

The nation's housing market is on a downtrend after rising for the past four years as supply and turnover contracted in the third quarter, according to a report released by Cathay Real Estate Development Co (國泰建設) yesterday.

There were 25,334 new residential property units put up for sale nationwide in the third quarter, down by 14.39 percent from the second quarter, the report said.

The value of these properties, however, increased by 6.25 percent from the previous quarter to NT$248.1 billion (US$7.66 billion), according to the report.

Average achievable price was NT$188,200 per ping, up from NT$182,800 in the second quarter, the report said.

The negotiation range, however, rose to 10.83 percent from 9.96 percent, while the rate of transactions concluded in 30 days declined to 10.62 percent from 14.23 percent, the nation's leading property developer said.

"The turnover has fallen significantly, while the negotiation range has continued to grow, showing the market has slowed down," the report said.

The growing bargaining range demonstrated that home buyers are less likely to accept rising housing prices, which were pushed up by a market boom and the fad of luxury apartments, the report said.

The report is in keeping with a report by the Ministry of the Interior's Architecture and Building Research Institute released last month, which indicated the composite index of the nation's property market in the second quarter of this year had declined for the second consecutive quarter to 11 points after a glut.

Housing units in Taipei City are the most expensive, at NT$514,700 per ping, followed by NT$205,300 per ping in Taipei County, and NT$137,200 per ping in the Tai-chung area, the report said.

Supplies of suites in the market dropped in the third quarter, showing investors were withdrawing, it said.

"As the sizzling housing market cooled, speculators gradually quit the market, which helped move the market back to basic supply and demand," Su Chi-jung (蘇啟榮), a director at the nation's largest housing agency Sinyi Real Estate Inc (信義房屋), said by phone.

The contraction of supply in the third quarter resulted from negative sentiment, which had led developers to postpone introducing their products to the market until the fourth high season, Su said.

Despite a slowing trend, housing prices are expected to remain flat in the fourth quarter as demand is relatively strong, he said.
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