Land prices in Taiwan rose 4.25 percent in the second half of last year, advancing at a similar pace to the 4.34 percent increase seen six months earlier, Ministry of Interior data showed, boding ill for government efforts to induce home price corrections.
The land price index was 115.04 between April and September of last year, compared with 110.35 six months earlier, as land costs picked up across the nation, the ministry said in a semi-annual report on its Web site.
The ministry surveys land prices nationwide twice a year, with the other survey conducted between October and March.
“The increase has much to do with enhanced infrastructure that fosters demand for residential and commercial properties in different parts of the nation,” the ministry said.
Kinmen County reported the biggest increase in prices of 9.58 percent during the period, as the government channels more public construction money to the outlying islands and therefore more people are willing to take residence there, the report said.
Developers and construction firms took note of the trend and put up new hotels and houses in Kinmen, especially in Jincheng Township (金城), which accounts for 35 percent of the county’s population, the report said.
New Taipei City ranked second with a 6.7 percent increase in land costs, the report said, corresponding with plans by the local government to build new MRT rail lines and other public works. Yilan County and Greater Kaohsiung came next with increases of 6.4 percent and 6.39 percent respectively, while Greater Taoyuan’s prices rose by 4.36 percent, the report said.
Taipei reported an increase of 4.25 percent in land costs and limited supply weighed on transactions, the report said.
There were 328,462 land deals during the latest survey, falling 6.41 percent from 350,974 in the previous six months and 15.2 percent from a year earlier, the report said.
The shrinking number of deals suggests the chilling effect of unfavorable policies extended only to transactions, the report said.
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