Transactions of residential and commercial property in Taiwan staged a rebound last year, ending three straight years of declines, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said.
After transactions of homes, offices and shops dipped to an all-time low in 2016, sales rose 8 percent year-on-year to 266,086 units last year, according to data compiled by the ministry, which began tallying property transaction figures in 1991.
The rebound showed that the property market has stabilized after 2016’s gloomy performance, Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) researcher Tseng Ching-der (曾進德) said last week.
Analysts said the rebound was driven by sellers cutting prices to spur activity after the low level of transactions a year earlier.
With housing transactions rebounding, property prices are expected to stabilize and trade within a narrower range this year, Tseng said.
The figures were in line with property sales data released by the six major municipalities earlier this month, which showed that 203,879 homes, shops and offices were bought and sold in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung last year, up 11.85 percent from 2016.
It was the first time in four years that housing transactions in the six cities posted a year-on-year increase, with sales in Taipei alone growing 9.06 percent from a year earlier to 23,447 units, the ministry’s data showed.
The number of housing units transferred through inheritance rose 3 percent from a year earlier to 53,521 units, the greatest increase since data was first compiled by the ministry.
The number of housing units transferred as gifts rose 3 percent from a year earlier to 42,994, which was attributed to changes in the gift tax, while houses transferred through auctions as properties used for collateral increased 6 percent to 4,899 units, the ministry said.
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