Developers and builders are to launch presale housing projects worth NT$144.02 billion (US$4.69 billion) in northern Taiwan this fall, a 12 percent gain from the same season last year and seemingly unaffected by uncertainty over the US-China trade war, a survey published last week by Chinese-language Housing Monthly (住展雜誌) showed.
Although the amount of presale housing projects coming on the market is to be the highest in five years, sales are forecast to be lower than in spring, as sellers remained upbeat, but would nevertheless be cautious ahead of the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections, the magazine said.
“The elections are proving hotter than expected in some constituencies, prompting developers to put off project launches,” Housing Monthly research manager Ho Shih-chang (何世昌) said, adding that the trade war creates uncertainty about market sentiment.
New Taipei City reported the most presale projects by value, at NT$71 billion, mainly in Sinjhuang (新莊), Sindian (新店), Banciao (板橋) and Tucheng (土城) districts, where rezoning has allowed the construction of housing developments on formerly off-limits plots of land, Ho said.
Taipei ranked second, with NT$27.3 billion in projects coming on the market, the magazine said, adding that Neihu District (內湖) reported four presale projects, while central Daan District (大安) reported the largest volume of NT$7 billion.
Rezoning is also at the base of presale projects in Taoyuan, where two developments near the National Sports University MRT Station account for NT$13 billion, or more than 50 percent, of housing coming on the market, Housing Monthly said.
Presale projects in Hsinchu County cluster around Sinpu Township (新埔), thanks to the development of a large townhouse complex, the magazine said.
Yilan County reported new housing projects worth NT$600 million as sluggish transactions and price declines continued to drive developers away from the area, it said.
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