Potential hikes in property prices caused by a planned trade pact with China and incoming Chinese property buyers topped home buyers’ worries in a survey yesterday.
The survey, conducted by Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) last month, found that 45 percent of 1,010 home shoppers were concerned that an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China would inflate property prices this year.
Next on the list of factors that concerned property shoppers were the rally on the local bourse and opening up the realty market to Chinese buyers, both at 42 percent.
Less than half of respondents believed the first half of this year would be a good time to buy, but just as many said they could buy in the first half.
Forty-eight percent of surveyed home buyers, down from 52 percent in the third quarter last year and 62 percent in the second quarter, said the next six months would be a good time to invest in property. Seventy-five percent of respondents said they might buy property this year, with 49 percent saying they planned to do so in the first half and 26 percent in the second half.
“Some home buyers feel pressured to buy property before it’s too late, which will support the market’s transactions in the first half [of this year],” Greg Yeh (葉國華), an advisor to the realtor, told a media briefing yesterday.
Average home buyers will hunt for cheaper properties in Taipei County after property prices in the capital shot up last year, he said.
Some 43 percent of respondents supported government plans to launch housing projects and sell low-priced homes.
But Tamkang University associate economics professor Chuang Meng-han (莊孟翰) said the move would only worsen the oversupply of housing in the areas where the projects are planned, including Wugu (五股), Linkou (林口) and Sansia (三峽) townships.
There are already plenty of vacant properties available for NT$110,000 per ping (3.3m²) in Linkou, he said yesterday.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Pegatron Corp (和碩), an iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, is to spend NT$5.64 billion (US$186.82 million) to acquire HTC Corp’s (宏達電) factories in Taoyuan and invest NT$578.57 million in its India subsidiary to expand manufacturing capacity, after its board approved the plans on Wednesday. The Taoyuan factories would expand production of consumer electronics, and communication and computing devices, while the India investment would boost production of communications devices and possibly automotive electronics later, a Pegatron official told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday. Pegatron expects to complete the Taoyuan factory transaction in the third quarter, said the official, who declined to be
RSS