New homes in the nation’s six major urban areas have an average price of more than NT$10 million (US$336,825), showing the local property market is still booming despite the government’s efforts to curb skyrocketing prices, a sales agency said yesterday.
U-Trust Rehouse said new homes constructed within the past five years cost homebuyers more than NT$10 million in Taipei, New Taipei City (新北市), Hsinchu City, Greater Taichung, Greater Kaohsiung and Taoyuan County.
In Greater Tainan, however, new housing carried an average price tag of only NT$9.13 million, which seemed more affordable to homebuyers, U-Trust Rehouse said.
The real-estate agency used statistics compiled under the current property price registration system for the first 10 months of this year.
The government implemented the property price registration rule in August last year to try to increase market transparency and dampen speculation at a time when most wage earners say they could not afford to buy a home. Previously, homeowners and buyers were not registering the actual sales price.
The average price of new homes in Taipei reached NT$29.8 million, the highest among the six major urban areas. U-Trust vice president Liu Pin-yao (劉炳耀) said land supply in Taipei is scarce, which has limited the number of new homes, keeping prices high.
Liu said consumers who want to reside in Taipei, but cannot afford expensive new homes in the city should look for second-hand homes that are more than five years old.
Prices of homes that were constructed five to 10 years ago in Taipei hit NT$20.54 million on average, while homes that are more than 10 years old were priced at NT$18.51 million on average.
Liu said new homes in New Taipei City can serve as a good alternative to those in Taipei as the average price of new homes in New Taipei City completed within the past five years is NT$16.5 million.
New Taipei City homes that are five to 10 years old and those that are more than 10 years old were priced at NT$10.98 million and NT$8.42 million respectively, U-Trust said.
New Taipei City has the advantage of convenient transport as the city is well-connected to Taipei through the mass rapid transit system, Liu said.
In Taoyuan County, new homes that were built in the past five years were priced at an average of NT$11.33 million, while homes in the same category in Hsinchu City cost homebuyers NT$10.72 million on average, statistics showed.
Prices of new homes in Greater Taichung hit NT$12.90 million on average, while new homes in Greater Kaohsiung carried a price tag of NT$11.96 million on average, according to statistics.
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