The nation’s major property brokers reported a significant increase in housing transactions in the first two months of this year as buying interest picked up amid continued economic improvement.
Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋), the nation’s largest broker by number of offices, saw a 23 percent rise in sales during the first two months compared with the same period last year.
A stable economy lent support to the healthy showing and price concessions on the part of sellers also helped facilitate deals, Evertrust spokesman Jay Hsieh (謝志傑) said.
It is better to examine the market by combining the number of transactions in January and February to mute any Lunar New Year holiday disruption, Hsieh said.
Sales last month alone would have plunged 33 percent if compared with January due to fewer working days, he said.
People usually take a break from looking for houses ahead and right after the Lunar New Year holiday, he added.
Buying interest grew most evidently in Taipei with a 37 percent increase, followed by Tainan with 34 percent growth and New Taipei City with a 34 percent pickup, Evertrust data showed.
Most in demand were apartments priced between NT$7 million and NT$12 million (US$239,480 and US$410,537) in Hsinchu, and houses priced between NT$5 million and NT$10 million in Taichung, Hsieh said.
Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), the nation’s only listed broker, reported a 16 percent increase in transactions in the first two months.
Taichung fared the strongest with a 21 percent increase in transactions, followed by a 19 percent pickup in both Taipei and New Taipei City, Sinyi said.
The recovery seen last year appears to have been sustained so far this year and it could extend through the spring sales season until the end of next month on the back of positive economic data at home and abroad, Sinyi researcher Tseng Ching-der (曾敬德) said.
Global bourses have stabilized following corrections and put an end to concerns about a negative wealth effect, Tseng said.
Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) observed a mild 2.4 percent increase in transactions nationwide.
Taipei staged the fastest rebound of 28.4 percent, while transactions in New Taipei City declined 24.7 percent.
Taiwan Realty said it was premature to speculate on a recovery as lingering expectations of falling prices would continue to weigh on the number of transactions.
Prices declined 8.7 percent year-on-year in Taipei, showing price cuts remain the key to the number of transactions, Taiwan Realty said.
Buying interest is strong in Taoyuan due to its relative affordability, it said.
Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) head of research Mandy Lang (郎美囡) said buyers were assigning more importance to building safety following the Feb. 6 earthquake in Hualien.
That might help facilitate more urban renewal projects, Lang said.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure