Presale and newly completed home transactions totaled NT$913.5 billion (US$31.37 billion) last year, the second-highest in 10 years, lending support to a bullish property market this year, a report by the Chinese-language Housing Monthly showed yesterday.
The amount marked a sharp increase of 38.87 percent from a year earlier at NT$657.8 billion, the report said, as excessive liquidity and low interest rates pushed up residential real-estate sales.
The nationwide pickup in presale housing projects, a major leading economic indicator, showed the boom could be sustained into this year, the report said.
In Keelung, the ratio of presale housing projects versus newly finished homes surged to 28.6 times last year, from 0.35 percent a year earlier, topping other administrative districts, the report said.
The magazine attributed the surge to aggressive town-making projects on the part of developers, as land supply grows increasingly scarce in Taipei City.
The ratio in the Hsinchu area stood at 4.34 times last year as the number of presale housing units hit 5,439 while newly completed units totaled 1,253, the report said, citing reviving business among technology firms there as the main driver.
Taipei ranked the third-highest, with the number of presale housing units at 4,663 last year, or 3.64 times the number of newly finished units at 1,280, the report showed.
The statistics suggest presale housing transactions will dominate residential real-estate transactions this year, the property publication said.
Da-an District (大安) was the most popular area in the capital among home buyers last year, followed by Zhongshan District (中山) and Wenshan District (文山), according to a separate report by Sinyi Realty Co (信義房屋) released yesterday.
The brokerage linked the rankings to convenient transportation and higher quality of living standards in those areas.
Jhonghe District (中和) topped the survey among home buyers in New Taipei City (新北市) last year, followed by Sinjhuang District (新莊) and Sanchong District (三重).
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