The number of property transactions last month in the nation’s major cities increased 13.2 percent month-on-month, as developers wrapped up construction of presale houses to recognize profits and save on land taxes before the end of the year, a broker said.
Property deals totaled 21,017 units, with month-on-month increases across the six special municipalities of Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, local government data showed.
Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) said it is common for developers to complete construction of presale houses ahead of the end of the year so that they can book earnings and save on land taxes.
Such intentions explained why presale deals picked up in all municipalities except Taipei, Evertrust Rehouse deputy research head Chen Chin-ping (陳金萍) said.
Compared with a year earlier, property transactions shrank 24 percent, with declines reaching double-digit percentages in all six municipalities, data showed.
Kaohsiung posted the largest retreat of 42 percent year-on-year, followed by Tainan’s 28 percent, New Taipei City’s 26 percent, Taipei’s 26 percent, Taoyuan’s 16 percent and Taichung’s 8 percent.
The boost to transaction numbers of capacity expansions by major local technology firms in southern Taiwan appears to have faded, judging from the data, Chen said, adding that economic uncertainty and interest rate increases were likely the main culprits.
For the whole of last year, transactions in the six special municipalities amounted to 244,173 units, an 8.8 percent fall from 2021.
Taichung bucked the downtrend with a 2 percent increase, thanks to improving infrastructure, especially the mass rapid transit system, Chen said.
Transfers in Tainan ranked the third-highest in nine years, Chen added, as people grew increasingly receptive to living in southern Taiwan.
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