Transactions for existing homes in the nation’s six special municipalities declined further last month from the previous year, but picked up from a month earlier, as sellers showed more pricing flexibility while buyers expected greater concessions.
Housing deals in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung — which accounted for about 80 percent of sales nationwide — dropped by 10 percent to 20 percent last month from the same period last year, but increased 6.33 percent to 18,287 units from 17,199 a month earlier, the individual city governments said on their Web sites.
The results suggest that the market has yet to emerge from a downturn, but might see more transactions before next year’s implementation of a new capital gains tax on property deals.
The new rules call for a levy of 15 to 45 percent on gains from property transactions, depending on the length of ownership.
Housing transactions in Taipei edged down 1.33 percent year-on-year to 2,449 units, but increased 13.85 percent from May, the city government said.
New Taipei City saw 4,132 deals, down 22.56 percent from a year earlier, but up 5.65 percent from May, city government statistics showed.
“The figures suggested an extended soft period as buyers continued to hesitate, even though some sellers were more willing to lower prices,” Taiwan Realty (台灣房屋) spokeswoman Charlene Chang (張旭嵐) said in a note.
Likewise, housing transactions in Taoyuan contracted 11.23 percent to 3,359 cases from a year earlier, but rose 11.82 percent from May.
Property developers and brokers have forecast a stabilizing market upon the settlement of the property tax aimed at making the taxation system more reasonable and discouraging short-term speculation.
Some buyers and sellers might want to close deals before the implementation of the new tax to save tax burdens, developers and brokers have said.
Transactions also fell 11.21 percent year-on-year to 3,819 units in Taichung last month, the city government said, adding that the number represented an 11.8 percent increase from May.
Tainan reported an annual retreat of 0.29 percent in property deals at 1,707, which translated into a 5.96 percent gain from May.
Kaohsiung proved the only exception without a monthly rebound, as home transactions in the southern city declined 9.18 percent to 2,821 units from one month earlier and slid 18.89 percent from a year earlier, city government data showed.
Taiwan Realty attributed the poor showing to a relatively high base in April.
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