Taiwan’s housing market showed tentative signs of stabilization last month, with property transfers in the six special municipalities totaling about 16,989 units — down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but up 5.7 percent from September, real-estate brokerages said on Monday.
“The latest data indicate the market might have reached a near-term floor, as the pace of decline has not deepened,” Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) research manager Tseng Ching-der (曾敬德) said in a report.
The market appears to be bottoming out, supported by resilient end-user demand and slower price increases, he said.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
Policy adjustments have helped underpin sentiment, he said, adding that in September, the Financial Supervisory Commission exempted first-time home buyers from mortgage restrictions, while the central bank extended the grace period for home upgraders to sell their original property from 12 to 18 months.
A strong TAIEX and related wealth effect also lent support, Tseng said.
Among the six cities, Tainan posted the steepest decline, with housing transfers plunging 33.2 percent to 1,527 units, followed by Taipei’s 22 percent drop to 1,758 units and Kaohsiung’s 16.2 percent fall to 2,494 units on an annual basis, data compiled by local land administrations showed on Monday.
New Taipei City recorded the mildest decrease, down 3.6 percent to 4,204 units, while Taichung slipped 8.3 percent to 3,766 units and Taoyuan fell 11.4 percent to 3,240 units, the data showed.
In the first 10 months of the year, total housing transfers in the six cities decreased 26.6 percent year-on-year to 168,785 units, the lowest for the same period in eight years.
Tseng said the annual tally might struggle to surpass 260,000 units amid lingering market softness.
Last month’s figures mainly reflect deals struck in September, as paperwork typically takes at least a month to complete, said Chen Chin-ping (陳金萍), deputy research head at Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋).
More time is needed to gauge the impact of targeted credit easing, although buyer confidence has improved slightly, and wait-and-see behavior has eased, Chen said in a separate report.
Both Chen and Tseng said the central bank’s stance toward the domestic housing market would remain a key driver of future direction, even though the fourth quarter is traditionally the busy season for housing transactions.
The central bank is scheduled to review its mortgage curbs next month to determine whether to maintain them next year.
Taiwan’s ongoing trade negotiations with the US could also have significant influence over market sentiment, the analysts said.
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