Developers are expected to promote a total of NT$147.83 billion (US$4.67 billion) in new residential and commercial projects in northern Taiwan during the autumn sales season, an increase of nearly 60 percent from the same period last year, a report by Housing Monthly showed yesterday.
The autumn sales season starts next week and lasts through the whole of next month, as property developers make a last push to promote sales of pre-sale developments and newly completed projects before the end of the year.
“The sharp increase has more to do with procedural delays rather than a sign of recovery,” the Chinese-language magazine’s research manager Ho Shih-chang (何世昌) said.
Some builders obtained their building permits late, while others pushed back their launch dates, Ho said, adding that procedural delays accounted for about one-third of the volume.
New housing promotions in Taipei are estimated to total NT$73.09 billion, more than eight times the level last year, thanks to the entry of two newly completed upscale projects by Liangmao Construction Co (良茂建設) and Yuanlih Group (元利機構), the report said.
Liangmao plans to sell 54 units of luxury offices on floors above Grand Mayfull Hotel Taipei (美福飯店) in the city’s Dazhi area (大直).
Each unit has a floor space of 150 ping (495m2), with each ping selling for NT$2.5 million based on the builder’s estimate of NT$20 billion in total sales for the project, Ho said, adding that is 40 percent higher than prevailing market rates for office space in the vicinity.
Yuanlih Group is putting on the market its two luxury residential buildings across from National Taiwan Normal University in Daan District (大安), the report said.
Local media reports said that Mando-pop star Jay Chou (周杰倫) had bought a unit on the top floor.
New housing promotions in New Taipei City are expected to amount to NT$38.53 billion, an increase of 57 percent from a year earlier, led by an urban renewal project in Sinjhuang District (新莊) and a residential complex in Sijhih District (汐止), the report said.
Keelung is to see new project promotions rising more than fivefold to NT$15.3 billion this season, as Lih Pao Construction Co (麗寶建設) is building a large residential complex, the report said.
The strategy of marketing relatively affordable housing units has proved popular among buyers looking to buy a home for self-
occupancy, the report said.
Meanwhile, new housing promotions are estimated to drop 66 percent to NT$10.06 billion in Taoyuan and decline 11 percent to NT$8.1 billion in Hsinchu, the report said, as companies seek to digest inventory and refrain from launching new development projects.
Data showed that listed companies will by and large stay on the sidelines, suggesting a continued lack of confidence, Ho said.
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