The construction and building sub-index has shed 13.3 percent this year, underperforming the TAIEX’s 0.01 percent decline as the sector bore the brunt of a series of tightening measures to cool real-estate fever, the Chinese-language Housing Monthly (住展雜誌) said in a report released yesterday.
However, the weak sentiment is about to hit bottom as evidenced by the value of pre-sale housing projects to be launched next month, the report said.
Shares of Kee Tai Real Estate (基泰建設) led the price correction with a fall of 32.9 percent, while those of Kindom Construction Corp (冠德建設) and Cathay Real Estate Development Co (國泰建設) tied for the second place with a fall of 29.5 percent, the report said.
In particular, the forthcoming luxury tax on property transactions dealt a severe blow to construction shares after other credit controls failed to rein in housing prices, the magazine said.
Shares of Highwealth Construction Corp (興富發建設), Huaku Construction Corp (華固建設) and Prince Housing and Development Corp (太子建設) appeared to resist the correction, with a modest fall of 2.7 percent, 4.8 percent and 5.8 percent respectively, the report said.
The magazine expects the market to see a reversal soon given the aggressive amount of pre-sale housing projects — valued at NT$125 billion (US$4.33 billion) — to be launched next month.
The amount, the second-highest since May 2008, reflects expectations of a rosy outlook on the part of developers, the report said.
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