Hua Fu Development Co (樺富建設), which also owns a stake in Far Eastern Air Transport Co (FAT, 遠東航空), yesterday announced plans to auction newly completed houses in New Taipei City (新北市) in a fresh move to destock inventory.
The Taipei-based developer plans to sell 38 apartments and villas at a hillside complex in Tamsui (淡水), New Taipei City, with floor prices ranging from NT$120,000 to NT$160,000 (US$4,046 to US$5,394) per ping (3.3m), company chairman Chang Kang-wei (張綱維) told a media briefing.
That would price the apartments at about NT$2.88 million and the villas at NT$6.88 million each unit, cheaper than government housing which will be built in another part of New Taipei City at a cost of NT$190,000 per ping, Chang said.
“I hope to find prices acceptable to buyers of those units through auctions,” Chang said. “I’m always drawn to fresh marketing strategies.”
Chang, who is also FAT president, faced allegations of financial difficulties after auction organizer DTZ said the developer wanted to focus on running the airline business.
DTZ general manager Billy Yen (顏炳立) said he expected the units to sell at NT$30,000 more per ping in the auctions, which will be held on Feb. 18 and in March.
To boost sales, the developer is offering free parking spaces for bidders who make a NT$60,000 deposit beforehand and win in their bid, DTZ said. Generally, successful bidders would be expected to pay NT$400,000 for an individual parking space, DTZ added.
The announcement of the auctions came after housing transactions in New Taipei City slumped to a decade-low of 3,385 units last month, according to government data released yesterday.
Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), Taiwan’s only listed real-estate broker, attributed the figures to the presidential election and fewer working days last month because of the Lunar New Year holiday. The recent extension of the mass rapid transit system to Sinjhuang (新莊) did not lift home transfers because buyers had factored in the opening of the line over the past two years, Sinyi said.
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