Home buyer interest picked up noticeably this quarter from last quarter, suggesting the market may stage a rebound going forward, Evertrust Rehouse Co’s (永慶房屋) latest survey showed yesterday.
A total of 38 percent of respondents said they plan to buy a house in the coming six months, representing a 10 percent increase from last quarter and the highest level in eight quarters, the quarterly survey indicated.
“The market may see a rebound for the rest of the year to avoid heavier tax burdens next year, though the general sentiment remains weak,” Evertrust president Benson Liao (廖本勝) told a media briefing.
Liao attributed the buying interest to the recent passage of the new property gains levy, which is to subject transaction gains to income taxes of 15 to 45 percent — depending on the duration of ownership — starting on Jan. 1 next year.
Investors would be looking to make a profit this year, as tax burdens are lighter under the existing system, Liao said.
Houses acquired next year need to be occupied for six years to qualify for the low-income tax rate of 10 percent, he said.
Supply is likely to build up toward the end of the year, with sellers showing greater flexibility in order to sell, he added.
The survey showed that nearly 60 percent of respondents expect housing prices to drop between 3 percent and 10 percent in the short term.
Buyers are expected to take advantage of the sales pressure and negotiate lower prices.
Houses with 10 percent discounts are considered acceptable to 40 percent of respondents, while another 35 percent are looking for greater concessions.
Transactions could stretch long after the new property tax goes into practice, Evertrust researcher Andy Huang (黃舒衛) said, as potential buyers are likely to wait until the presidential and legislative elections are decided early next year.
The survey also showed that 17 percent of respondents plan to invest in real estate overseas as the government continues to add holding costs for property owners.
Most prefer investment in Japan, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Thailand and China, it showed.
Evertrust warned against foreign-exchange losses that could reach 35 percent based on exchange rates in recent years, though property investments overseas can generate higher rental income and capital gains.
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