Commercial property transactions totaled NT$67.64 billion (US$2.32 billion) in the July-to-September quarter, more than doubling from the previous quarter and a year earlier, driven by self-occupancy and investment demand from local technology and insurance companies, Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan (戴德梁行) said yesterday.
Local capital drove all of the deals, of which 72 percent were concentrated in Taipei, Taoyuan and Tainan, Cushman & Wakefield said.
Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽), the main subsidiary of Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), acquired Sunworld Dynasty Hotel Taipei (王朝大酒店) near the Taipei Arena MRT Station for NT$25.52 billion, the property consultancy said.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
The transaction came with an agreement from the property’s US owner, Sunrider International, to lease the complex to keep the hotel going and generate rent income for Fubon Life.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, bought three factories in Tainan for NT$9.35 billion to meet capacity expansion needs, Cushman & Wakefield said.
Adding another purchase of NT$660 million last quarter, TSMC poured more than NT$10 billion into the commercial property market, becoming a major contributor, it said.
Sales of partial floors at an office building in Taipei’s prime Xinyi District (信義) above the Taipei City Hall MRT Station surprised the market with a record price of nearly NT$1.8 million per ping (3.3m2), Cushman & Wakefield said.
Chiayi-based Ying Chan Development Co (營展開發) bought the entire 16th floor for NT$1.24 billion and affiliated Ying Fu Development Co (盈福開發) purchased part of the 29th floor for NT$650 million one month apart, it said.
The transactions showed that prices for grade-A office space in the district are approaching that for luxury residential apartments, the most expensive property products in Taiwan, due to strong demand and scarce supply, Cushman & Wakefield said.
The housing market also recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic judging by transaction volumes and prices, Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan general manager Billy Yen (顏炳立) said.
Yen attributed the fast recovery to accommodative monetary policy in Taiwan and around the world.
Presale projects proved the most popular, as they were priced at roughly the same levels as existing homes, Yen said, calling the phenomenon unreasonable.
Existing homes should be sold at discount rates relative to presale and new housing projects, he said.
Yen hesitated to bet on a sustained recovery that is modest in scale for the time being.
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