Home ownership in Taiwan’s six special municipalities picked up in the first three quarters, with further acceleration expected as sales untether from local COVID-19 restrictions and unfavorable policy measures, H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) said last week, citing government data.
The broker attributed the uptrend to real demand, excessive liquidity and ultra-low interest rates.
The ratio of home purchases to total households rose above 2 percent in Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, and more than 3 percent in Taoyuan and New Taipei City, H&B said.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
RECOVERY
The local housing market has since 2016 been recovering gradually but steadily, and loose liquidity worldwide following the COVID-19 pandemic has lent further support, said Mandy Lang (郎美囡), lead researcher at the H&B Realty-affiliated Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋).
The home-buying ratio is highest in Taoyuan at 3.8 percent, meaning that nearly four out of every 100 households made purchases in the first nine months of this year, Lang said.
Taichung ranked second with 3.5 percent and New Taipei City finished third with 3 percent, the she said, citing Ministry of the Interior data.
The ratio was 2.8 percent in Tainan and Kaohsiung, while it eased to 2.2 percent in Taipei, Lang said.
OUTSIDE INFLUENCES
Tainan and Kaohsiung have benefited from local technology companies expanding their capacity to meet business needs, the analyst said, adding that the relative affordability of the municipalities also helped facilitate purchases.
However, excessive liquidity has shored up the market in Taipei and New Taipei City, where housing prices have increasingly become unaffordable, she said.
Lang said that she expected housing transactions to taper off this quarter after the central bank last month canceled grace periods for second-home mortgages in the six special municipalities, as well as Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County.
H&B chief researcher Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨) recommended that potential homebuyers compare prices before making a purchase.
Selling pressure might build going forward, as developers are launching new projects since a local outbreak of COVID-19 infections stabilized, Hsu said.
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