Pre-sales of homes in northern Taiwan dropped 11.7 percent this year from last year, due mainly to the government’s efforts to cool the property market, the Chinese-language Housing Monthly reported yesterday.
The value of pre-sale homes in the north fell from NT$930 billion (US$30.68 billion) last year to NT$821 billion this year, the magazine reported.
The magazine said housing projects that have been on hold in the fourth quarter because of the Jan. 14 presidential and legislative elections might be put on the market after the polls.
Looking ahead, the value of pre-sale homes in northern Taiwan will rise to about NT$900 billion next year, it said, while in Taichung and Kaohsiung pre-sales were expected to remain at this year’s levels of NT$180 billion and NT$120 billion respectively.
However, Housing Monthly’s research chief Ni Tzu-jen (倪子仁) said the low home pre-sale rate in northern Taiwan, which currently averages 40 percent to 45 percent, was likely to continue for the next few years.
Construction companies will have difficulty selling completed new houses, he said.
Nonetheless, interest rates will be the key factor in the housing market next year, he said.
The magazine said the oversupply of finished homes in the north was most evident in the Linkou (林口), Sansia (三峽) and Tsmsui (淡水) districts of New Taipei City (新北市) and near the expressways leading to Nangang Science Park in Taoyuan County and Jhongli City.
The situation also exists in Hsinchu City and Chupei City, the magazine said.
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