State-run Taiwan Asset Management Corp (TAMC, 台灣金聯) yesterday said it would be more proactive in taking part in urban renewal projects and press ahead with reselling foreclosed properties at fair prices.
Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉), chairman of the nation’s largest bad-loan operator, said TAMC is seeking to deepen participation in urban renewal projects to boost projects on hand and generate profits on a yearly basis.
Urban renewal projects — intended to enhance building safety and stimulate domestic demand — are not subject to selective credit controls to curb property speculation.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
Housing property price hikes have stabilized following a spate of selective credit controls and unfavorable tax terms, Shih said.
“Taiwan’s house price hikes are relatively moderate, compared with markets elsewhere,” Shih said on the sidelines of a public function, adding that the government has played an important role in stabilizing the market.
The Taipei-based company will continue to pursue reasonable profitability by selling properties it has acquired from the foreclosed market, Shih said.
Selling properties a fair rates has been an effective strategy for more than a decade and will remain a core business at TAMC, Shih said.
For this year, TAMC is to offer two batches of fair housing units, Shih said.
The first batch is to cover 80 apartment units priced from NT$8.9 million to NT$42 million (US$288,306 and US$1.36 million) in Taipei’s Xinsheng N Road and New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), he said.
TAMC will introduce the second batch and disclose more details after sales of the first batch are settled, Shih said.
The firm will follow its usual practice of offering about 100 houses in different parts of Taiwan at prices that are 10 percent lower than market rates, he said.
Shih said the US dollar appears to be the only financial asset that has gained value this year.
As long as this trend continues, foreign funds would not demonstrate much interest in local shares after cutting their holdings by more than NT$1 trillion so far this year, he said.
The US Federal Reserve has made clear its intention to fight inflation and raise policy rates sharply to achieve that aim, raising the chances of a hard landing in the US, which would be unfavorable for Taiwan’s exports, Shih said.
However, major local tech firms would emerge relatively unscathed given their global leadership and the world’s dependence on advanced technologies, he said.
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