The presale and new housing market in northern Taiwan shrank 14 percent in the second quarter from three months earlier to NT$228.55 billion (US$8.19 billion), as a local COVID-19 outbreak and unfavorable government policies weakened sentiment and pushed developers to the sidelines, the Chinese-language My Housing Monthly reported yesterday.
The trend suggested a steeper decline of up to 30 percent compared with the same period last year, the report said.
“Developers turned cautious and preferred to wait and see while the market assimilates to credit controls, property tax hikes and the lingering level 3 [COVID-19] alert,” My Housing Monthly research manager Ho Shih-chang (何世昌) wrote in the report.
Photo: CNA
The market could regain momentum next quarter thanks to the fall in local infections this month, Ho said.
Presale projects and newly completed houses might reach NT$550 billion and NT$600 billion respectively in the second half of this year, pushing the trading volume for the full year to surpass NT$1 trillion, Ho said, adding that he expects a number between NT$1.05 trillion and NT$1.1 trillion.
Developers are likely to introduce new projects next month or in September when Taiwan is expected to emerge from the virus outbreak, he said, adding that a solid economy and low interest rates would continue to lend support.
In the first half of the year, presale and newly finished houses in northern Taiwan totaled NT$494.64 billion, representing a 19 percent retreat from a year earlier, the report said.
Taipei posted the biggest decline nationwide, with sales dropping 37 percent to NT$109.7 billion in the first six months, Ho said, attributing the decline to the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in the capital and the relatively strong effect of the policy measures on the city’s housing market.
However, prices held relatively firm in Taipei, thanks to tight supply, he said.
New Taipei City reported a 17.6 percent decline to NT$195 billion, while sales in Taoyuan fell 20 percent to NT$107.3 billion, the report said.
Hsinchu City bucked the trend as it posted an annual increase of 25 percent to NT$68.8 billion, it said.
Keelung and Yilan County also reported increases of 25.8 percent and 17 percent respectively, the report said.
Separately, Taichung-based Sakura Development Co (櫻花建設) on Tuesday said that it is expecting improved earnings in the second half of this year, as profits from five residential projects in Taichung would be booked.
The company finished the first six months with net losses per share of NT$0.07 due to an 88 percent annual retreat in revenue to NT$166 million.
However, the company is to wrap up construction at five residential complexes with 916 apartment units in Taichung that are expected to generate NT$8.4 billion in sales, it said.
The five projects are all sold-out, and the company would book the profits upon turning over the keys to buyers.
Sakura Development said it would refocus its strategy away from the presale market, as transfers of presale contracts within five years of purchase would be subject to property taxes of 35 to 45 percent.
It would instead focus on new projects that it would market once fully or partly completed, it said.
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
Tokyo Electron's Taiwan unit today said in a written response that it respects the judicial process, takes the court ruling seriously and would not appeal in the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) trade secrets case. Last month, a court fined the Taiwan unit of Japan's Tokyo Electron NT$150 million (US$4.74 million) in a case involving trade secrets related to TSMC's sensitive chip technology.
ROUGH RECORDS: Bonds in Japan, as well is in New Zealand, Australia and the US, are seeing the effects of a nervy market as stock exchanges across Asia edge down A deepening slump in Japanese government bonds added fuel to the selloff in global debt markets as rising oil prices stoked inflation fears and pushed yields to multi-decade highs. Japan’s 30-year yield yesterday surged as much as 20 basis points to the highest level since the tenor’s debut in 1999, before paring some of the move. Shorter-maturity Japanese debt was also under pressure, underscored by weak demand at a sale of five-year notes that offered a record-high coupon of 2 percent. Concerns over inflation and government spending rippling through markets including the US, Australia and New Zealand are being amplified in Japan,
Wall Street is licking its chops over an unprecedented slate of massive initial public offerings (IPOs) set to arrive in the coming months, beginning with Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) next month. That is expected to be followed by artificial intelligence (AI) rivals OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. The trio of mega listings, each eyeing valuations around US$1 trillion or more, constitutes a heady period of elevated risk and reward. SpaceX is targeting an IPO that would raise up to US$80 billion — about double the funds generated from all IPOs last year. OpenAI and Anthropic are eyeing IPOs raising US$60 billion. “We’re
RSS