Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday halted the National Property Administration’s plan to invite bids on state-owned land in Taipei City next week after legislators expressed concern that the bidding would contribute to price gouging among construction companies and realtors.
Wu said on the legislative floor that he had suspended the bids because the public had reacted negatively to soaring real estate prices in Taipei.
“The government should not add fuel to the flames by helping with price gouging,” he said.
Wu made the remarks in response to criticism from legislators across party lines after several pieces of state-owned property sold at record-high prices in bids held by the property administration.
A 121.3 ping (401m2) plot of state-owned land on Jianguo S Road in Da-an District (大安) sold for NT$731 million (US$22.8 million) last Thursday, more than NT$6 million per ping.
Another plot of land — measuring 319.44 ping — sold for NT$958 million in another bid on the same day.
The record-high prices also drew criticism from Wang Yao-shing (王耀興), chairman of the Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), who said on Friday that the prices were “ridiculous.”
Wang said the government should suspend plans to sell government property to stop the bids from contributing to skyrocketing real estate prices.
The National Property Administration had scheduled bids on 13 pieces of government property in the city next Thursday.
Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) said on the legislative floor that the government would never participate in real estate price gouging by selling government land.
Lee said the record-high prices were the result of “market mechanisms,” adding that it was necessary for the government to review its policy of selling state-owned property.
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