New housing prices in the Greater Taipei area and Taoyuan last quarter rose to their highest level in three years, on the back of investment and asset allocation needs, the Chinese-language Housing Monthly reported yesterday.
Interest rate cuts and sufficient liquidity helped neutralize headwinds caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing for new housing prices to pick up in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, while prices held steady in Hsinchu and declined in Keelung and Yilan, the magazine said.
Taipei prices rose 2 percent from three months earlier to NT$870,000 (US$29,455.58) per ping (3.3m2), their highest since 2018, even though the pandemic had dampened buying interest in April and early May.
Housing Monthly research manager Ho Shih-chang (何世昌) attributed the price increase to investment and asset allocation needs, after global central banks lowered interest rates to near zero to ward off a credit crunch and to ease financial burdens on companies and households.
Taiwan’s central bank cut its policy rate to a record low of 1.125 percent in March.
New Taipei City prices grew just 0.3 percent to NT$393,000 per ping, also a three-year peak, Housing Monthly said.
Buying interest gained noticeable momentum in the rezoning areas of Sindian (新店) and Banciao (板橋) districts, while projects in less popular quarters weighed on the average, it said.
Taoyuan prices increased 1.3 percent to NT$231,000 per ping, the strongest in three years, and a 1.8 percent advance if compared with a year earlier, it said.
Prices held steady in Hsinchu with some projects in the eastern part rising above the NT$300,000 mark per ping, it said.
Affluent high-tech engineers lent support to the market and a lack of new supply led some developers to raise prices between NT$280,000 and NT$320,000 per ping, it added.
Prices in Keelung and Yilan bucked the trend, falling 1.4 percent and 0.5 percent respectively from the preceding quarter, it said.
However, the price correction in Yilan is likely to end soon, given the small pace of retreat, while prices are consolidating in Keelung, where buyers are refusing to increase them, Ho said.
The liquidity-driven rallies may continue for a while as central banks around the world introduce more quantitative easing to combat sudden and deep economic downturns, Ho added.
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