Presale housing project prices gained modestly across northern Taiwan last quarter due to higher construction costs, with healthy demand and low interest rates also lending support, the Chinese-language Housing Monthly (住展雜誌) reported yesterday.
Presale housing projects, for which noticeable price hikes last year prompted the government to tighten credit controls and step up lending inspections, saw prices climb, even in the less popular counties of Yilan and Keelung, the report showed.
“The price hikes are likely to continue this year, despite the latest wave of selective credit controls that slow, but do not stop, the pace of the increase,” said Ho Shih-chang (何世昌), the magazine’s research manager.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
The price upturn would be steeper if it was not for the credit controls that cap the loan-to-value ratios at 55 to 65 percent for corporate and multiple home owners as well as for unsold houses and land financing, Ho said.
In Taoyuan, presale housing prices gained 2.5 percent from a quarter earlier to NT$244,000 per ping (3.3m2), with gains most evident in properties near Taoyuan International Airport and the high-speed rail station, Ho said, adding that presale housing prices rose 8.4 percent from a year earlier.
Prices in Yilan emerged from years of corrections to grow 3.9 percent quarterly and 2.9 percent annually to NT$213,000, Ho said.
While Yilan is popular among tourists, it is less attractive for housing investment due to long travel times to Taipei, Ho said.
The government’s plan to extend the high-speed railway system to Yilan has reversed that trend, he said.
Presale housing prices in Keelung saw a 2.4 percent increase quarterly and yearly to a record of NT$216,000 per ping, spurred by upscale housing projects, Ho said.
In Hsinchu, the most notorious area for sales increases, prices edged up 0.9 percent quarter-on-quarter and 3.1 percent annually to NT$232,000, Ho said.
Developers and builders have slightly slowed activity, but their conservative approach could fuel price hikes due to lower supply amid sturdy demand, he said.
In Taipei, presale housing prices increased 1.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$886,000 per ping, or 4.5 percent annually, he said.
Housing prices in New Taipei City rose 1 percent to NT$407,000 per ping, or 3.8 percent annually, Ho said.
The prospect of rezoning has bolstered the market in New Taipei City’s Banciao (板橋), Sindian (新店) and Sinjhuang (新莊) districts, he said.
Ho suggested potential buyers with real demand to take action, as the chance for price corrections is slim in the next few years.
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