On the back of the economic recovery and closer ties with China, the nation’s publicly traded property developers are showing renewed confidence, planning new housing projects worth NT$125.7 billion (US$3.89 billion) in the first quarter of next year, the Chinese-language Housing Monthly reported.
“That will represent a mild rebound, returning to a much healthier level similar to that in the first quarter of last year, before the financial crisis distressed the local property market,” Nii Tzu-jung (倪子仁), an executive at the monthly, said by telephone yesterday.
Nevertheless this pales in comparison with the last property boom in 2007 when there were NT$1.1 trillion in new housing projects nationwide, or nearly NT$300 billion per quarter.
The volume of new property projects declined to NT$800 billion last year and an estimated NT$550 billion this year, Nii said.
Housing Monthly statistics showed that Chong Hong Construction Co (長虹建設), Highwealth Construction Corp (興富發建設), Huaku Development Co (華固建設), Kuo Yang Construction Co (國揚建設) and Farglory Group (遠雄集團) will be the top five builders next quarter, with projects worth NT$15.6 billion, NT$13.1 billion, NT$13 billion, NT$13 billion and NT$12.5 billion respectively.
Chong Hong has shown the greatest confidence with a project worth NT$3.8 billion under review by the Taipei City Government and set to start next quarter or shortly afterwards, the monthly said.
Huaku Development’s NT$9 billion luxury residential project will feature the nation’s largest single unit home at 238 pings (787m²) each, it said.
Despite the nation’s central banker warning of over-heated property prices in several of Taipei’s upscale districts, property tycoons from both Highwealth and Farglory have recently forecast home prices in these districts will climb further to average NT$1 million per ping next year and NT$1.5 million in 2011, boosted by the singning of a financial accord with China on Monday.
Jeffrey Huang (黃增福), an assistant manager at Evertrust Rehouse Co’s (永慶房屋) research and development department said on Tuesday that he believed commercial properties, located especially in the capital’s Xinyi (信義), Minsheng East Road/Dunhua North Road and Neihu, would experience an upside now that Chinese banks may soon establish a presence in Taiwan.
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