Presale and new-home prices dropped modestly in northern Taiwan last quarter from the previous quarter as some developers and builders offered greater concessions to facilitate transactions, Housing Monthly said yesterday.
However, it would be premature to speculate over a recovery, due to low visibility, even though buying interest picked up noticeably this month, the Chinese-language magazine said.
New Taipei City and Taoyuan reported the biggest price declines of 2.17 percent and 2.09 percent to NT$406,000 (US$12,571) per ping and NT$239,000 per ping respectively, as companies demonstrated greater pricing flexibility to digest inventory, the magazine’s research manager Ho Shih-chang (何世昌) said by telephone.
“The move made sense in light of heavy supply in the two municipalities and a continued sluggish market,” Ho said.
Still, most companies stood by their pricing policies supported by their deep pockets, which explains why overall transactions fell 20 percent during the January-to-March period from a year earlier, he said.
The standoff might persist going forward as building companies find encouragement from the central bank’s removal of credit controls and interest-rate cuts, Ho said.
Presale and new-home prices declined by 0.69 percent to NT$860,000 per ping on average in Taipei last quarter, easing from a 1.4 percent drop three months earlier, the magazine said.
The central bank’s stance and limited new supply saw developers and builders breathe a sigh of relief, Ho said.
“Many industry watchers have said that the worst is over, although a recovery remains elusive,” Ho said.
New-home prices in Yilan held steady last quarter at NT$221,000 per ping as local residents and buyers from Taipei supplied stable demand, Ho said.
Geographic closeness to beaches and mountains make Yilan a popular location for second homes or vacation homes after the Hsuehshan Tunnel significantly shortened travel time between Yilan and Taipei, he said.
Domestic lodging facility providers My Humble House Hospitality Management Consulting Co (寒舍餐旅), Farglory Hotel Co (遠雄悅來大飯店), and Maison de Chine (兆品酒店) are soon to start operations in Yilan, with peers including Formosa International Hotels Corp (晶華酒店), Hotel Royal Group (老爺大酒店集團) and Evergreen International Hotels (長榮國際) having thrived there for years.
Keelung bucked the trend and saw a 1.46 percent pickup to NT$208,000 per ping in new-home prices last quarter, attributable to a successful pricing strategy by a major apartment complex, Ho said.
The room for price hikes in Keelung is limited due to a lack of new infrastructure, Ho said.
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