Presale and new housing projects totaled NT$330.2 billion (US$10.7 billion) in northern Taiwan last quarter, an increase of 11.3 percent from a year earlier, as local developers and builders gained confidence, despite lingering economic and political uncertainty, a survey by the Chinese-language Housing Monthly (住展雜誌) showed yesterday.
On a quarterly basis, the figure represented a mild 2.6 percent growth, the report said.
Cumulatively, total value shrank 5.2 percent to NT$843.28 billion in the first nine months of this year from the same period last year, but showed a quarter-on-quarter pickup.
Photo: Taipei Times
“Developers and builders appear quite upbeat this year, launching more projects each quarter” rather than turning conservative ahead of the presidential elections as seen in the past, Housing Monthly research manager Ho Shih-chang (何世昌) said.
Rezoning, which placed public land on the market, encouraged developers, while low borrowing costs lent support, Ho said.
If the trend continues, overall presale and new housing projects might beat expectations and exceed NT$1 trillion for the full year, he said.
As of last month, New Taipei City posted the biggest increase of 8.34 percent to NT$355.6 billion, as rezoning facilitated massive presale projects of more than NT$20 billion each in Sinjhuang (新莊), Sindian (新店), Banciao (板橋), Tucheng (土城), Sanchong (三重), Jhonghe (中和) and Linkou (林口) districts.
Sijhih District (汐止) was the only area that reported big presale projects without the help of rezoning, Ho said.
Taoyuan ranked second with a 2 percent increase to NT$199.06 billion, the report said.
Presale and new housing projects were mostly concentrated in Taoyuan’s Jhongli (中壢) and Gueishan (龜山) districts, as they accounted for 73 percent of the supply, making them more vulnerable to price corrections if sales disappoint, Ho said.
Taipei proved a drag with a 29.27 percent retreat to NT$178.2 billion due to unaffordability and sluggish sales for luxury housing, Ho said.
Hsinchu also fared weakly, with a 17.54 percent decline to NT$79.96 billion for the first nine months.
Ho said he was not worried about the situation in Hsinchu, which might see more new housings this quarter.
The property magazine said that developers and builders should pay close attention to sales and cut volume, if necessary, to prevent an oversupply from weighing on the market.
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