Taiwanese expect housing prices to hold steady this year after transactions plunged to a decade-low in Greater Taipei, but picked up in the south last year, real-estate analysts said.
Home deals are poised to regain vigor in Taoyuan this year, as the county is expected to become the nation’s sixth special municipality in December next year after its population passed the 2 million threshold, the analysts said.
Housing prices are likely to stay flat this year, after a spate of unfavorable government policies failed to trigger a correction, Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) and Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) said in separate surveys.
Nearly 50 percent of respondents in both polls agreed that prices would be flat, suggesting an extended tug-of-war between buyers and sellers as the economic outlook improves, Taiwan Realty manager Jack Chou (周鶴鳴) said.
About 30 percent of respondents were pessimistic about housing prices and the remaining 20 percent were bullish, Taiwan Realty’s survey showed.
“Housing transactions may remain tepid this year despite improved confidence,” Chou said. “That said, the worst is likely over, but a concrete recovery remains elusive in the absence of a major catalyst.”
Existing home deals fell to a 10-year low at 38,571 in Taipei and 69,211 in New Taipei City (新北市) last year, falling 22.7 percent and 17.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, government data showed.
Transactions dropped 7.18 percent year-on-year to 45,902 in Greater Taichung last year, but rose 5.75 percent to 39,625 in Greater Kaohsiung, according to government records.
Buyers and sellers have become less flexible in negotiating housing prices, after the government started publishing actual transaction prices on the Web site of the Ministry of Interior in mid-October, said Richard Liu (劉天仁), a vice president at Chinatrust Real Estate Co (中信房屋).
“The two sides differ on how they interpret the data — with buyers making offers based on the lowest listed prices and sellers citing the highest figures,” Liu said.
This has dragged out transactions and left little room for negotiations, Liu said, adding that the standoff was likely to continue until the two sides reach a consensus on how to interpret the price-registration measure.
Government tightening of the regulations governing commercial property investments by life insurance companies has added to the cautious sentiment, Liu said.
The Financial Supervisory Commission reportedly plans to lift a ban on commercial property transactions after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Homes sales in Taoyuan County may prove an exception as evidenced by the rapid inflow of funds into the area’s property market in recent years, Taiwan Association of Real Estate Brokers (不動產全聯會) chairman Alex Lee (李同榮) said.
“The county may see robust home trading this year, thanks to the planned upgrade in status and improved infrastructure and facilities,” Lee said.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
RSS