Housing transactions nationwide declined 18.7 percent year-on-year to 138,942 units in the first half of this year, led by a more than 30 percent slump in Hsinchu, as unfavorable policy measures chilled the property market, data compiled by the Ministry of the Interior showed.
The volume represented the lowest in five years for the same period, as the central bank’s credit controls, property tax hikes and bans on transfers of presale house purchase agreements drove prospective buyers to the sidelines and investors out of the market, Great Home Co (大家房屋) head researcher Mandy Lang (郎美囡) said yesterday.
An ongoing economic weakness and five interest rate hikes by the central bank since March last year also helped cool buying interest, Lang said.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
Hsinchu County took the hardest hit, with property transactions retreating 33.4 percent year-on-year to 4,259 units, followed by a 26.6 percent fall to 3,245 units in Changhua County and a 23.3 percent drop to 2,881 units in Yilan County.
Taipei was the fourth-worst performer, tumbling 21.2 percent to 12,690 units, followed by a 20.6 percent fall to 3,223 units in Hsinchu City, ministry data showed.
Only four counties — Chiayi, Lienchiang, Kinmen and Penghu — bucked the trend, posting increases due to a relatively lower comparison base last year, Lang said.
Prospective home buyers preferred to wait and see partly because house prices have not retreated, Lang said.
H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) research head Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨) said developers and sellers generally refused to concede because of rising construction costs.
Inflation and limited supplies in popular locations also lent support to their confidence, she said.
The housing market has slim chances of coming out of the woods any time soon as economic challenges loom, Hsu said.
As a result, housing deals could total 270,000 units for the whole of this year, similar to the poor showing observed during the global financial storm in 2008, she said.
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