The Ministry of Finance yesterday sold the superficies rights of five plots of state-owned land among 11 plots on offer for NT$1.3 billion (US$43.25 million).
This represents a premium of NT$452.84 million from the floor price of NT$849.21 million proposed by the ministry.
Buyers of the five plots of land will receive 50 year leases for each plot, with the Taiwan Land Development Corp (台灣土地開發) winning one plot in Kinmen and Well Glory Development Co (志嘉建設) taking another in Taipei, the ministry said.
H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) said yesterday’s results implied that leases of commercial-use land plots have been more acceptable to investors, as three of the projects are for commercial use.
In addition, investors have become more interested in leasing the superficies rights of land outside the Greater Taipei area, as four of the five plots sold are outside Taipei, which is evidence that market momentum in southern Taiwan is rising, H&B said in a statement.
However, the fact that only two of the four projects in northern Taiwan were auctioned off indicated that investors are calculating their investment returns in the superficies rights of state-owned land, H&B Realty head researcher Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨) said.
“The government may need to either cut the initial price or extend the length of superficies rights to attract more investors to auctions,” Hsu said in a statement.
Still, bidding for the state-owned land’s superficies rights has become a trend for domestic life insurers, construction firms and asset management companies to grab plots in prime locations, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) head researcher Jeffrey Huang (黃增福) said.
The ministry is scheduled to announce two more rounds of land auctions in the second half of this year, according to National Property Administration data.
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