Commercial property transactions surged in the first quarter, fueled largely by a major semiconductor factory acquisition, a report released by Colliers International Consultants Ltd’s Taiwan branch on Wednesday last week showed.
Total transactions reached NT$99.3 billion (US$3.1 billion) in the first quarter, more than doubling from a year earlier and marking the highest quarterly level since Colliers began tracking the local market.
The jump was driven primarily by Micron Technology Inc’s purchase of a semiconductor facility in Miaoli County from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for nearly NT$53 billion.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
Owner-occupiers continued to dominate the market, with technology companies remaining the main drivers, Colliers Taiwan senior research director Eilleen Liang (梁儀盈) said.
Technology firms invested about NT$79.3 billion in commercial real estate during the quarter, accounting for about 79 percent of transactions.
By asset type, factory deals overwhelmingly led the market. Transactions involving owner-occupied factories totaled about NT$83.6 billion, representing 84 percent of the overall volume.
Demand from companies upgrading office space also remained steady, boosting transactions in newly completed and presale industrial and office projects in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) and Shilin District (士林), as well as New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城) and Sinjhuang District (新莊).
Investment capital was also active, although concentrated in a handful of deals. KGI Life Insurance Co (凱基人壽) acquired a logistics facility in Taoyuan for NT$6.3 billion, while an affiliate of Highwealth Construction Corp (興富發) bought an office building from Global Life Insurance Co (全球人壽) for NT$6 billion.
The land market remained relatively subdued, with transactions totaling about NT$52.1 billion in the first quarter, Colliers Taiwan said. However, three deals exceeded NT$10 billion, highlighting continued interest in strategically located sites.
Among them was US chipmaker Nvidia Corp’s NT$12.2 billion acquisition of surface rights at the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park, as well as the purchase of an industrial site in Taoyuan by Century Iron & Steel Industrial Co (世紀鋼構).
Looking ahead, Colliers Taiwan managing director Andrew Liu (劉學龍) said the property market would continue to be shaped by the expansion of artificial intelligence across industries.
Industrial properties including factories, office-factory complexes and logistics facilities that can be put into operation quickly are expected to remain the most sought-after assets, supported by strong owner-occupier demand and relatively stable returns.
The minimum yield requirement for life insurers’ property investments has been raised to 2.72 percent this year, which could encourage insurers to allocate more capital to higher-yielding industrial assets outside the greater Taipei area.
At the same time, rising geopolitical tensions and heightened global market volatility could prompt companies to diversify operations overseas, although it remains unclear whether such moves would dent domestic property investment, Liu said.
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