Local property prices should stabilize next year after an expected slight fall this year, according to a Standard & Poor’s forecast.
After a 2 percent increase in 2014, the nation’s property prices fell 4 percent in 2015, S&P said last week.
Prices continued to drop last year, but the decline was limited at 1 percent, it said.
Property prices are expected to fall about 1 percent this year, an indication that market order is set to return, said Eva Chou (周怡華), an analyst with Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評), a local partner of S&P.
Chou said the Taiwanese property market has been in consolidation mode since last year, ensuring prices should start stabilizing next year and continue their recovery into 2019.
Downside risks in local property should be low over the next two years, since interest rates in Taiwan have been low, Chou said.
Local economic fundamentals are also expected to remain sound over the coming two years, lending support to property prices, she said.
After a period of consolidation, momentum in the local property market has shown signs of stabilizing slightly, with home buyers who seek residences for their own use returning to the market.
Last month, residential and commercial property transactions in the six special municipalities — Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung — hit 20,351 units, up 16 percent from May, when sales grew 16 percent month-on-month.
Home, office and shopfront sales in the six municipalities rose about 20 percent from the previous year to 98,633 units, according to the latest government statistics released last week.
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