UK real-estate services provider Savills PLC yesterday introduced its new executives at its Taiwan office, which is to double its staff in the coming two years to help local property funds invest overseas.
“Taiwan remains a key market for Savills in the region, although it fared weakly in the last few years,” Savills Asia-Pacific executive chairman Robert McKellar told a news conference to mark its 10-year presence in Taipei.
The British firm has appointed veteran broker Frank Marriott as managing director and Ricky Huang (黃瑞楠) as general manager of the local unit.
Savills Taiwan (第一太平戴維斯) posted healthy earnings last year, despite a lackluster market, as it shifted its focus from the housing market to industrial land and building deals, as well as overseas property investments, Huang said.
The local unit, which has a staff of 60, plans to add 60 to 80 workers in the next two years in anticipation of business growth as the commercial and land markets are about to come out of the woods, it said.
Commercial property deals amounted to NT$31.7 billion (US$1.04 billion) this quarter, growing twofold from a year earlier, thanks mainly to the purchase of a new office complex by Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, Huang said.
FPG needs a temporary headquarters office, while its old one is undergoing urban renewal, he added.
Cumulative transactions reached NT$41.1 billion in the first half of the year, up more than 50 percent from last year, lending support to a recovery, Huang said.
Ongoing automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies suggest more demand for new office and factory spaces, he said, adding that self-occupancy accounted for 81 percent of the property trade.
Land deals reached NT$57.7 billion in the first half of the year, nearly equal the amount for the whole of last year, as some developers increased land stock for future projects, Huang said.
Other builders have sought to diversify their income sources, prompted by a persistent decline in the nation’s birth rate and souring ties with China, Huang said.
Diversification explains why some developers have expanded into hotel operations while others seek business opportunities abroad, he said.
Property fund outflows from the Asia-Pacific region hit US$64.3 billion last year, the broker said.
Savills Taiwan can help match local idle funds with investment targets in overseas markets, he said.
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