Taiwanese expect housing prices to hold steady this year after transactions plunged to a decade-low in Greater Taipei, but picked up in the south last year, real-estate analysts said.
Home deals are poised to regain vigor in Taoyuan this year, as the county is expected to become the nation’s sixth special municipality in December next year after its population passed the 2 million threshold, the analysts said.
Housing prices are likely to stay flat this year, after a spate of unfavorable government policies failed to trigger a correction, Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) and Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) said in separate surveys.
Nearly 50 percent of respondents in both polls agreed that prices would be flat, suggesting an extended tug-of-war between buyers and sellers as the economic outlook improves, Taiwan Realty manager Jack Chou (周鶴鳴) said.
About 30 percent of respondents were pessimistic about housing prices and the remaining 20 percent were bullish, Taiwan Realty’s survey showed.
“Housing transactions may remain tepid this year despite improved confidence,” Chou said. “That said, the worst is likely over, but a concrete recovery remains elusive in the absence of a major catalyst.”
Existing home deals fell to a 10-year low at 38,571 in Taipei and 69,211 in New Taipei City (新北市) last year, falling 22.7 percent and 17.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, government data showed.
Transactions dropped 7.18 percent year-on-year to 45,902 in Greater Taichung last year, but rose 5.75 percent to 39,625 in Greater Kaohsiung, according to government records.
Buyers and sellers have become less flexible in negotiating housing prices, after the government started publishing actual transaction prices on the Web site of the Ministry of Interior in mid-October, said Richard Liu (劉天仁), a vice president at Chinatrust Real Estate Co (中信房屋).
“The two sides differ on how they interpret the data — with buyers making offers based on the lowest listed prices and sellers citing the highest figures,” Liu said.
This has dragged out transactions and left little room for negotiations, Liu said, adding that the standoff was likely to continue until the two sides reach a consensus on how to interpret the price-registration measure.
Government tightening of the regulations governing commercial property investments by life insurance companies has added to the cautious sentiment, Liu said.
The Financial Supervisory Commission reportedly plans to lift a ban on commercial property transactions after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Homes sales in Taoyuan County may prove an exception as evidenced by the rapid inflow of funds into the area’s property market in recent years, Taiwan Association of Real Estate Brokers (不動產全聯會) chairman Alex Lee (李同榮) said.
“The county may see robust home trading this year, thanks to the planned upgrade in status and improved infrastructure and facilities,” Lee said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks