The Taipei City Government yesterday said that the plot of land occupied by Taipei 101 held its place as the most valuable in the city for the third consecutive year as Department of Land data showed assessed land appreciation had risen 30.38 percent.
The department’s statistics were 2.79 percentage points below those released by the Ministry of the Interior on overall land appreciation in Taipei from 2013 to this year, a significant reduction in the gap between the two sources compared with previous results.
Ministry statistics showed that assessed land appreciation from 2010 to 2012 was 24.07 percent, while the department showed a paltry 5.54 percent.
Photo: CNA
The gap has been described by house price reform advocates as a result of wealthy people and construction firms hoarding properties while paying unreasonably low taxes.
Department of Land Commissioner Lee Te-chuan (李得全) said that although the ministry had recommended that local government taxes based on assessed land appreciation from 2013 to this year be at least equal to that determined by the ministry, the department opted not to match the ministry’s figures with a full hike, as the tax increase could be too much for some Taipei residents.
On average, the increase recommended by the ministry would have cost people with a home for personal use — who account for 54 percent of land value taxpayers — an additional NT$1,100 per year, Lee said.
Housing Movement spokesman Peng Yang-kai (彭揚凱) said the city government’s efforts to bridge the gap were not entirely satisfactory, but are acceptable.
“Taipei has drawn first blood in land price reform. Now it is up to other municipalities to decide whether to follow suit,” Peng said.
The department’s data showed that the plot of land occupied by Taipei 101 has remained the most expensive in Taipei since 2013, with an estimated price of NT$6 million per ping (US$182,094 per 3.3m2), followed by the plot of land occupied by the Hsin Kong Life Tower opposite the Taipei Railway Station, which has an assessed value of NT$5.89 million per ping.
The plot of land on which the Cathay Landmark, also known as the Cathay Life Xinyi A3 building, on Zhongxiao E Road is erected ranked third with its value estimated at NT$5.66 million per ping.
On residential land, the plot on which The Palace on Renai Rd sits topped the rankings at NT$4.45 million per ping, while a plot near Daan Park earmarked for the Xinyi Lianqin residences took second place at NT$3.8 million per ping.
Zhongshan District (中山) saw the city’s biggest increase in assessed market value at 7.04 percent followed by Daan District’s (大安) 7.03 percent and Songshan District’s (松山) 6.84 percent.
Lee said that property prices in those districts rose sharply due to a high density of new MRT metro stations, coupled with the presence of well-developed residential areas and commercial districts, which created added value for urban renewal projects.
The plot on which the Nangang Station build-operate-transfer project is planned marked the biggest price increase in Taipei, 40.6 percent, thanks to several planned commercial districts and hotels, as well as convenient transportation links as well as the city government’s East Gateway Project, which aims to transform Nangang into a biotech hub, Lee said.
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