Home-buying interest has picked up 10 percent as sellers are more willing to adjust prices in an effort to avoid higher tax burdens on property ownership or gains that are set to be implemented next year, a survey by U-Trust Realty Co (有巢氏) said yesterday.
The number of prospective buyers has grown 10 percent nationwide one month after the passage of the property tax, although transactions remain weak due to lingering cautious sentiment, U-Trust spokesman Liu Ping-yao (劉炳耀) said.
“People are more willing to make inquiries or offers now that the tax issue is settled,” Liu told a media briefing.
Properties that would be for self-occupancy account for more than 74 percent of expressions of interest, as investors flee the property market in the face of growing tax burdens, the survey said.
From next year, property gains are to be subject to income taxes of between 15 percent and 45 percent depending on the duration of ownership.
The tax rate is a flat 17 percent for corporate sellers, but 45 percent for foreign firms if the property is sold within one year of purchase, and 35 percent if ownership is longer.
About 46 percent of prospective buyers are looking at houses priced between 10 percent and 20 percent lower than what is listed on the government’s real-price registration Web site, the survey said.
Selling pressure varies in different parts of Taiwan, but most sellers want to cash out before the higher taxes are imposed, the survey said.
Nearly 70 percent of sellers in northern Taiwan have said they are prepared to accept offers that are 10 percent below the asking price, the survey said.
Liu attributed the trend to soaring home prices and oversupply in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan.
Houses in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城) declined 2.5 percent last month and dropped by 8 percent in Taoyuan, Chen Hung-sheng (陳宏勝), another U-Trust manager said, citing government statistics.
In Taichung, sellers are prepared to lower prices by 24 percent for houses in less popular districts and by 9 percent in central districts, the survey said.
In Kaohsiung, 67 percent of sellers are willing to adjust house prices by an average of 10 percent, the survey found.
The pricing flexibility is an indicator that property transactions might rebound in the second half, the survey said.
Still, home transactions might drop below 300,000 this year, the lowest level since the technology bubble burst in 2001, as political uncertainty heightens ahead of the presidential and legislative elections in January next year, the survey said.
In related news, Chong Hong Construction Co (長虹建設) chairman Lee Wen-tsao (李文造) said Chong Hong and its peers might lower home prices by between 10 percent and 20 percent if they do not import expensive building materials from abroad.
In recent years, building companies have developed residential projects with materials intended for luxury hotels, which has significantly raised their costs, Lee said.
Chong Hong plans to refrain from that strategy and seek land in less-expensive locations, Lee said.
Lee dismissed talks of a property bubble, saying ample liquidity and lower borrowing costs would lend support to the property market.
EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH: China extended its legal jurisdiction to ban some dual-use goods of Chinese origin from being sold to the US, even by third countries Beijing has set out to extend its domestic laws across international borders with a ban on selling some goods to the US that applies to companies both inside and outside China. The new export control rules are China’s first attempt to replicate the extraterritorial reach of US and European sanctions by covering Chinese products or goods with Chinese parts in them. In an announcement this week, China declared it is banning the sale of dual-use items to the US military and also the export to the US of materials such as gallium and germanium. Companies and people overseas would be subject to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday said that Intel Corp would find itself in the same predicament as it did four years ago if its board does not come up with a core business strategy. Chang made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions about the ailing US chipmaker, once an archrival of TSMC, during a news conference in Taipei for the launch of the second volume of his autobiography. Intel unexpectedly announced the immediate retirement of former chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger last week, ending his nearly four-year tenure and ending his attempts to revive the
WORLD DOMINATION: TSMC’s lead over second-placed Samsung has grown as the latter faces increased Chinese competition and the end of clients’ product life cycles Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) retained the No. 1 title in the global pure-play wafer foundry business in the third quarter of this year, seeing its market share growing to 64.9 percent to leave South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co, the No. 2 supplier, further behind, Taipei-based TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report. TSMC posted US$23.53 billion in sales in the July-September period, up 13.0 percent from a quarter earlier, which boosted its market share to 64.9 percent, up from 62.3 percent in the second quarter, the report issued on Monday last week showed. TSMC benefited from the debut of flagship
TENSE TIMES: Formosa Plastics sees uncertainty surrounding the incoming Trump administration in the US, geopolitical tensions and China’s faltering economy Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday posted overall revenue of NT$118.61 billion (US$3.66 billion) for last month, marking a 7.2 percent rise from October, but a 2.5 percent fall from one year earlier. The group has mixed views about its business outlook for the current quarter and beyond, as uncertainty builds over the US power transition and geopolitical tensions. Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), a vertically integrated supplier of plastic resins and petrochemicals, reported a monthly uptick of 15.3 percent in its revenue to NT$18.15 billion, as Typhoon Kong-rey postponed partial shipments slated for October and last month, it said. The
RSS