Housing prices in Taipei soared by almost 200 percent in the past 20 years, showing the fastest growth among the six special municipalities in Taiwan, according to a research report released by Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋).
From 1995 to last year, home prices in Taipei rose 196.5 percent from NT$229,000 (US$7,387) per ping (3.3m2) to NT$679,000 per ping on average, Sinyi Realty said.
In New Taipei City, the most populous city in Taiwan, housing prices rose 145.3 percent during the 20-year period to NT$368,000 per ping from NT$150,000 per ping on average, the report showed.
In Taoyuan, home prices increased by 80.3 percent during the same period to NT$193,000 per ping, while prices in Taichung gained 89.3 percent to NT$195,000 per ping on average, according to the report.
The growth of home prices in Tainan and Kaohsiung was much lower than the four other municipalities during the 20-year period, with the rate not surpassing 50 percent, the report said.
In Tainan, home prices rose 49.4 percent to NT$133,000 per ping, while the cost in Kaohsiung increased by 47.3 percent to NT$165,000 per ping on average, the report indicated.
Stanley Su (蘇啟榮), a manager of Sinyi Realty’s research division, said that since the government has launched a tax reform plan in which property sellers are to face up to 45 percent in capital gains tax, the local property market is expected to become stable and mature.
The capital gains tax was passed by the Legislative Yuan earlier this month and is scheduled to become effective on Jan. 1 next year.
Under the new tax, gains on the sale of property will be taxed based on the actual gains. Moreover, sellers will be taxed more if they were not living in the property and had not owned it for a certain number of years, under the new tax measure.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last