The number of presale and new housing units on the market declined last quarter from the previous quarter, but selling prices continued to climb, defying policy measures to reverse the trend, a survey by Cathay Real Estate Development Co (國泰建設) showed yesterday.
The number of presale and new housing projects fell 22 percent from the fourth quarter of last year to 230 projects, while the overall number of housing units on the market fell 7.6 percent to 21,812, the quarterly survey showed.
The Taipei-based developer attributed the retreat to tightening measures by government agencies to rein in the property market.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
The central bank cut its loan-to-value ratios twice in the first quarter to 40 percent for corporate buyers and people who own four homes to make the market less attractive for speculative buyers, while the Ministry of Finance raised capital gains taxes to between 35 and 45 percent on properties resold within five years of purchase.
The finance ministry is also to levy punitive taxes on contract transfers for presale projects from July 1.
The housing market appeared to have cooled down in Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, judging by the supply, Cathay Real Estate said.
However, selling prices picked up as developers sought to pass rising raw material and labor costs to buyers, the analyst said, adding that it is too early to assess the impact of policies.
Housing prices averaged NT$308,100 per ping (3.3m2) nationwide, gaining 2.01 percent from three months earlier, while 30-day sales rates shed 2.41 percentage points to 11.71 percent, it said. Meanwhile, the room for price concessions widened by 0.79 percentage points to 13.45 percent, it added.
That meant the supply side grew more flexible in pricing to facilitate transactions, as lawmakers consider imposing hoarding taxes on multiple-home owners and the Ministry of the Interior plans revisions to public space requirement in residential complexes.
Taichung reported the steepest price hike of 3.62 percent to NT$266,400 per ping last quarter, as the city benefitted from the inauguration of its mass rapid transit system, the survey showed.
Hsinchu posted the second-steepest raise of 3.29 percent to NT$257,200 per ping, it showed
Prices in Taipei increased 2.78 percent to NT$889,800 per ping and those in New Taipei City advanced 0.51 percent to NT$402,400 per ping, while prices gained 0.68 percent to NT$269,000 per ping in Taoyuan, the survey showed.
Prices in Tainan rose 0.55 percent to NT$236,600 per ping, while prices in Kaohsiung increased 0.46 percent to NT$240,700 per ping, it showed.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) last week recorded an increase in the number of shareholders to the highest in almost eight months, despite its share price falling 3.38 percent from the previous week, Taiwan Stock Exchange data released on Saturday showed. As of Friday, TSMC had 1.88 million shareholders, the most since the week of April 25 and an increase of 31,870 from the previous week, the data showed. The number of shareholders jumped despite a drop of NT$50 (US$1.59), or 3.38 percent, in TSMC’s share price from a week earlier to NT$1,430, as investors took profits from their earlier gains
In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence (AI), smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance, Reuters has learned. Completed early this year and undergoing testing, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor. It was built by a team of former engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML who reverse-engineered the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, according to two people with knowledge of the project. EUV machines sit at the heart of a technological Cold
Taiwan’s long-term economic competitiveness will hinge not only on national champions like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) but also on the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, a US-based scholar has said. At a lecture in Taipei on Tuesday, Jeffrey Ding, assistant professor of political science at the George Washington University and author of "Technology and the Rise of Great Powers," argued that historical experience shows that general-purpose technologies (GPTs) — such as electricity, computers and now AI — shape long-term economic advantages through their diffusion across the broader economy. "What really matters is not who pioneers
TAIWAN VALUE CHAIN: Foxtron is to fully own Luxgen following the transaction and it plans to launch a new electric model, the Foxtron Bria, in Taiwan next year Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) yesterday said that its board of directors approved the disposal of its electric vehicle (EV) unit, Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), to Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進) for NT$787.6 million (US$24.98 million). Foxtron, a half-half joint venture between Yulon affiliate Hua-Chuang Automobile Information Technical Center Co (華創車電) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), expects to wrap up the deal in the first quarter of next year. Foxtron would fully own Luxgen following the transaction, including five car distributing companies, outlets and all employees. The deal is subject to the approval of the Fair Trade Commission, Foxtron said. “Foxtron will be
RSS