Taiwan’s major property brokers yesterday reported a mild increase in housing deals this month, attributable mainly to the government’s introduction of preferential lending terms for first-home purchases.
Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), Taiwan’s only listed broker, said the housing market’s performance this month was similar to July and last month, but gained 10 percent by volume compared with last year.
Singyi research manager Tseng Ching-der (曾敬德) attributed the year-on-year pickup to a low base last year.
Photo: CNA
“The third quarter proved not bad this time around, supported by real demand,” Tseng said, adding that people responded positively to the government’s introduction of ultra-low interest rates of 1.775 percent for first-home purchases.
The favorable lending terms also include a five-year grace period, a loan cap of NT$10 million (US$309,904) and mortgage periods of up to 30 years, significantly lowering the threshold for home ownership, Tseng said.
Specifically, houses priced from NT$10 million to NT$15 million gained noticeable popularity, accounting for 25 percent of deals, the analyst said.
Apartments valued between NT$30 million and NT$50 million in Taipei were also well received, whereas houses of NT$10 million to NT$20 million were the mainstream in New Taipei City, Tseng said.
Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋), Taiwan’s largest broker by number of offices, said it observed a small increase in housing deals across Taiwan, as people grew accustomed to policy measures the government adopted to cool the market.
The absence of new credit controls made by the central bank on Thursday last week allowed people to breathe a sigh of relief and speed up purchasing plans, Evertrust Rehouse deputy research head Chen Chin-ping (陳金萍) said.
People with relocation and asset allocation needs also took action after housing prices failed to show corrections for several quarters, Chen said.
H&B Realty Co (住商不動產), the nation’s top broker by number of franchises, said the market displayed better visibility compared with the two previous months and preferential lending terms played an encouraging role.
This was most evident for the two-bedroom apartments in northern and southern Taiwan, H&B Realty research chief Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨) said, adding that offices with rental prospects also received close attention.
Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) said it did not detect cautious sentiment thus far, though the presidential and legislative elections are drawing near.
It is too early to conclude that political uncertainty does not matter at this time, Great Home head researcher Mandy Lang (郎美囡) said.
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
TARIFF CONCERNS: Semiconductor suppliers are tempering expectations for the traditionally strong third quarter, citing US tariff uncertainty and a stronger NT dollar Several Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers are taking a cautious view of the third quarter — typically a peak season for the industry — citing uncertainty over US tariffs and the stronger New Taiwan dollar. Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) said that customers accelerated orders in the first half of the year to avoid potential tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump’s administration. As a result, it anticipates weaker-than-usual peak-season demand in the third quarter. The US tariff plan, announced on April 2, initially proposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese goods. Its implementation was postponed by 90 days to July 9, then
AI SERVER DEMAND: ‘Overall industry demand continues to outpace supply and we are expanding capacity to meet it,’ the company’s chief executive officer said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported that net profit last quarter rose 27 percent from the same quarter last year on the back of demand for cloud services and high-performance computing products. Net profit surged to NT$44.36 billion (US$1.48 billion) from NT$35.04 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, net profit grew 5 percent from NT$42.1 billion. Earnings per share expanded to NT$3.19 from NT$2.53 a year earlier and NT$3.03 in the first quarter. However, a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar since early May has weighed on the company’s performance, Hon Hai chief financial officer David Huang (黃德才)
RSS