The COVID-19 outbreak has unexpectedly brightened the business outlook for Taiwanese developers with projects in less populous areas.
Shining Building Business Co (鄉林建設) and Taiwan Land Development Corp (台灣土地開發) said that sales in more rural areas ramped up over the 228 Memorial Day holiday last weekend.
Taichung-based Shining Building sold three apartments in its newly completed complex on the hillside of New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), with the potential buyers increasing by 30 percent during the three-day weekend, company chairman Lai Cheng-yi (賴正鎰) said.
The developer also sold an upscale apartment with hot spring facilities in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), and is in talks to lease office space near the Shilin Official Residence Park (士林官邸公園).
“I’m surprised by the sales, as other sectors have been struggling during the outbreak, which has kept people at home,” Lai said.
The deals all share one thing in common: They are located in areas with plenty of greenery, fresh air and scenic views, he said.
The developers’ luxury hotel Lalu (涵碧樓) near Nantou County’s Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) was also packed over the weekend, he said, again citing travelers’ desire to avoid urban destinations.
Likewise, Taiwan Land Development said it expects business to increase at a development in Hualien County.
Hualien’s property market has been aided by the January completion of the Suhua Highway improvement project that shortened the drive to the region from Taipei by two-and-a-half hours, the company said.
Housing transactions in Hualien in the first two months grew 12.6 percent from the same period last year and could climb higher, the company said, citing government figures.
During the Lunar New Year holiday, more than 100,000 vehicles used the highway, and another 16,000 traveled on it last weekend, it said.
Taiwan Land Development’s mixed-use complex New Paradiso (新天堂樂園) in Hualien attracted 400,000 visitors in January and the number reached 70,000 over the weekend, despite concerns about COVID-19, it said.
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