Taiwan’s commercial property transactions might be little changed this year from last year because the government might adopt further tightening measures to rein in the property market, Sinyi Realty Co (信義房屋) said yesterday.
Last month, commercial property transactions totaled NT$37.9 billion (US$1.28 billion), a spike of 80 percent from a month earlier, as financial firms increased their real-estate stakes by the end of the year, the nation’s only listed housing brokerage said in a statement.
Altogether, commercial property trade amounted to NT$105 billion for the whole of last year, down from NT$107.5 billion in 2009, the company’s statistics showed.
Land transactions, however, jumped to NT$150 billion last year from NT$71.6 billion a year earlier.
“The government is likely to take stronger steps to rein in soaring property prices this year, while the economy is set to see modest expansion,” said Michael Wang (王維宏), assistant manager at Sinyi’s asset management unit.
Insurance firms, which accounted for 60 percent of trade volume in 2009, contributed only 23 percent last year, as technology and other companies entered the field, generating another 23 percent, the statement said.
Land developers accounted for 20 percent of commercial property transactions, while their subsidiaries contributed 9 percent, it said.
Foreign investors accounted for 10 percent of the transactions, indicating that warming trade ties with China have yet to bear fruit in this area, Wang said.
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