Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) reported a modest rebound in existing home sales for last month from one month earlier, after some sellers cut prices to boost transactions.
Transactions at the nation’s only listed broker, climbed 9.6 percent nationwide last month, led by a double-digit increase in Hsinchu and Taipei, due to a modest price correction, company researcher Tseng Chin-der (曾進德) said.
Housing prices averaged NT$650,000 per ping (3.3m2) in the capital city last month, down 2.9 percent from September, increasing transactions by 13.1 percent, Sinyi data showed.
Similarly, home prices dropped by a marginal 0.6 percent to NT$185,000 per ping in Hsinchu, pushing trading up by 15.7 percent, Sinyi said.
“Some sellers showed willingness to trim prices to avoid heavier tax burdens that may go into practice next year as hinted by policymakers,” Tseng said.
The flexibility, while limited in size, spelled good news for the market which has seen trading shrink 20 percent from a year earlier, Tseng said.
New Taipei City and Taoyuan County fared weaker last month, with transactions falling 2.2 percent and 4.6 percent respectively, even though home prices dropped by 2.9 percent and 1.5 percent respectively, Sinyi said.
Steep price hikes and heavy supply accounted for the poor showing in the two areas, Tseng said.
The market in central and southern regions logged a stronger rebound, with a monthly increase of 23.1 percent in Greater Taichung and 18 percent in Greater Kaohsiung, while prices advanced 4.4 percent and 0.2 percent respectively, Sinyi said.
Tseng attributed the robust pickup in trading to relative affordability, as home prices averaged NT$190,000 per ping in Taichung and NT$160,000 per ping in Kaohsiung.
Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋), the largest broker by number of offices, said first-time ownership and replacement underpinned the market last month.
In Taipei, first-time and replacement dealings rose to a record high of 68 percent last month, higher than 63 percent in New Taipei City, due to more favorable locations, Evertrust spokesman Andy Huang (黃舒衛) said.
With prices falling between NT$7 million and NT$14 million, apartments of 20 ping or smaller were the most popular, Huang said.
With the advent of the high season, the market might find continued support in real demand amid lingering policy uncertainty, Evertrust said.
The Ministry of Finance indicated last week it would not draw conclusions this year over plans to levy capital gains taxes on property transactions.
H&B Realty Co (住商不動產), the largest broker by number of franchises, said it recorded a 4.65 percent increase in home transactions last month, but voiced concerns over the overall volume this year lagging behind last year by 20 percent.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
RSS