Transglobe Life Insurance Co (全球人壽) plans to auction off an office building in downtown Taipei to better allocate its assets in what is likely to be the biggest commercial property deal this year, the auction’s organizer Cushman & Wakefield Inc said yesterday.
The insurance firm plans to sell the building on the intersection of Minquan E Road and Jianguo N Road, encouraged by signs of recovery in the local property market, Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan general manager Billy Yen (顏炳立) said.
“It remains to be seen if the bidding’s outcome will encourage or disappoint the market, where prices for commercial properties remain high, despite sluggish transactions,” Yen told a news conference in Taipei.
Total sales in the commercial market are estimated to reach NT$15.7 billion (US$5.21 billion) this quarter, which would suggest an 84.7 percent jump from NT$8.5 billion last quarter, but would still pale in comparison with prices seen prior to the government’s introduction of tightening measures, Yen said.
Soaring property prices and holding costs have made real-estate investments, especially in Taipei, unable to meet minimum yield requirements for life insurers, once the market’s major players.
Commercial property deals totaled between NT$50 billion and NT$60 billion last year, only 50 percent of the volume a year earlier, Yen said.
Transglobe did not disclose the building’s asking price, but Yen expects the building to be worth at least NT$10 billion, given its convenient location.
The building, within five minutes’ walk to MRT Longshan Temple Station, has 14,770 ping (48,826m2) of floor space that can generate rent income of between NT$1,800 and NT$2,200 per ping, Yen said.
Buyers could generate extra income by leasing the building’s walls to advertisers, raising potential overall yield to more than 3 percent, he said.
It has been a while since the market saw a property deal worth more than NT$10 billion, Yen said.
Major domestic life insurers, such as Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) and Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽), have purchased office buildings abroad, especially in London, in pursuit of better yields, Yen said.
The drastic depreciation of the pound following last year’s Brexit vote has rendered the ventures unprofitable, Yen said.
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