The nation’s property market is expected to shrink by more than 10 percent this month, after hitting a 14-month high last month, as Typhoon Morakot and the government’s decision to halt preferential mortgage loans prompted prospective buyers to remain cautious, analysts said.
Property transactions reached 40,492 units nationwide last month, the highest level since June last year, Ministry of Interior data showed. The momentum appeared to have subsided somewhat this month as Morakot dampened consumer confidence and the government, strapped for funds to rebuild hard-hit areas, decided not to replenish preferential mortgage loans to stimulate the market.
Victor Chang (張欣民), general manager at Pacific Assets Management Co (太平洋資產管理), said the property market entered a downward correction this month, with a contraction in transactions estimated at between 10 percent and 15 percent.
“The disaster took a toll on consumer confidence,” which shed 3.18 points to 53 this month, with all six indicators moving down, Chang said by telephone.
Chang said the government’s decision to halt preferential mortgage loans dealt another blow to the sector, especially to first-time homebuyers.
Jeffry Huang (黃增福), an associate manager with Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋), attributed the market adjustment partly to growing property prices.
Huang said house prices had picked up since March, with residences at prime locations recovering to their pre-recession level, in part amid expectations that improving cross-strait trade would bring Chinese capital and boost property value here.
“Talks of an economic cooperation framework agreement have failed to make any headway, leading buyers to think twice about entering the market,” Huang said.
Huang said the correction would persist unless the governments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait reach an understanding or sellers agree to lower their prices.
Property prices are so high that it would take average wage earners more than a decade to own an apartment in Taipei City — and that’s without living expenses, local media said.
Chang said most sellers would adopt a wait-and-see attitude as economic fundamentals have shown signs of recovery.
The property market could regain momentum in the fourth quarter, when GDP is expected to turn positive and people are more inclined to make real-estate investment before the end of the year, Chang said.
Huang was also optimistic, linking his assessment to hopes that cross-strait financial agreements will be reached later this year.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
STIMULUS PLANS: An official said that China would increase funding from special treasury bonds and expand another program focused on key strategic sectors China is to sharply increase funding from ultra-long treasury bonds this year to spur business investment and consumer-boosting initiatives, a state planner official told a news conference yesterday, as Beijing cranks up fiscal stimulus to revitalize its faltering economy. Special treasury bonds would be used to fund large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, said Yuan Da (袁達), deputy secretary-general of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. “The size of ultra-long special government bond funds will be sharply increased this year to intensify and expand the implementation of the two new initiatives,” Yuan said. Under the program launched last year, consumers can
TECH PULL: Electronics heavyweights also attracted strong buying ahead of the CES, analysts said. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed amid Trump’s incoming presidency Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares yesterday closed at a new high in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday, moving the TAIEX sharply higher by more than 600 points. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the TAIEX, rose 4.65 percent to close at a new high of NT$1,125, boosting its market value to NT$29.17 trillion (US$888 billion) and contributing about 400 points to the TAIEX’s rise. The TAIEX ended up 639.41 points, or 2.79 percent, at 23,547.71. Turnover totaled NT$406.478 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The surge in TSMC follows a positive performance
FUTURE TECH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would give the keynote speech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which is also expected to highlight autonomous vehicles Gadgets, robots and vehicles imbued with artificial intelligence (AI) would once again vie for attention at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, as vendors behind the scenes would seek ways to deal with tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump. The annual Consumer Electronics Show opens formally in Las Vegas tomorrow, but preceding days are packed with product announcements. AI would be a major theme of the show, along with autonomous vehicles ranging from tractors and boats to lawn mowers and golf club trollies. “Everybody is going to be talking about AI,” Creative Strategies Inc analyst Carolina Milanesi said. “From fridges to ovens
RSS