Taiwan’s property market posted a sharp year-on-year rebound last month, although analysts cautioned that the apparent surge masked underlying weakness and was largely driven by base effects from last year’s Lunar New Year holiday.
Data released by land administration authorities across Taiwan’s six special municipalities showed residential property transfers totaled 18,237 units last month, down 8.3 percent from December, but up 28.1 percent from a year earlier. All six municipalities recorded annual gains, even as month-on-month declines were seen across the board.
“The year-on-year growth looks strong, but is effectively inflated,” Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) research head Charlene Chang (張旭嵐) said.
Photo: CNA
Transaction volumes in January last year were depressed by the Lunar New Year, which reduced working days, and delayed property registration and handover procedures, she said.
Among the six special municipalities, New Taipei City recorded the steepest monthly decline, with transactions falling 13.8 percent from December to 4,033 units, although volumes were still 40.6 percent higher than a year earlier.
Taipei posted 2,128 transfers, down 8.7 percent month-on-month, but up 32.7 percent from a year earlier. Taoyuan logged 3,559 units, a 6.1 percent monthly decline, but a 27.6 percent annual increase.
Central and southern cities also saw broad-based monthly pullbacks. Taichung recorded 3,509 transactions, down 11.2 percent from December, but was up 8 percent year-on-year.
Tainan posted the strongest annual growth, with transfers surging 47.9 percent to 2,041 units, while Kaohsiung recorded 2,967 units, down 3.3 percent on the month and up 26.7 percent from a year earlier.
Across-the-board annual growth largely reflected last year’s low comparison base rather than a genuine recovery in housing demand, Chang said.
Month-on-month figures offered a more accurate picture of market conditions, she said.
“The declines across all major cities indicate that the market has yet to break out of its consolidation phase,” she said, adding that a sustained recovery remains some distance away.
Analysts expect transaction volumes to weaken further this month, as the Lunar New Year holiday and 228 Peace Memorial Day reduce the number of working days.
Transfers this month are likely to face a “significant correction” due to the shorter working month, H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) chief researcher Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨) said.
The real test for the market would come toward the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter, Hsu added.
Without meaningful price adjustments or a relaxation of government measures aimed at curbing property lending, buyer demand is unlikely to rebound, leaving Taiwan’s housing market stuck in a pattern of declining volumes and relatively stable prices, she said.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,
RSS