Housing transactions last month totaled 21,083 units in the nation’s six special municipalities, marking a 4.4 percent increase from a month earlier and a 14.8 percent rise from a year ago, as favorable lending terms the government introduced in August motivated buyers, real-estate brokers said on Monday.
On a monthly basis, Taipei reported the biggest advance of 20 percent to 2,562 units, followed by New Taipei City’s 11.1 percent rise to 5,304 units, Taoyuan’s 10.8 percent increase to 4,023 units and Taichung’s 9 percent rise to 4,464 units, H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) said, citing data from local land administration agencies.
Tainan and Kaohsiung bucked the uptrend, shrinking 22 and 9.3 percent to 1,958 and 2,772 units respectively, H&B said.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
All six special municipalities reported increases in transactions on an annual basis, led by Taipei’s 30.8 percent growth and New Taipei City’s 28.7 percent rise, the data showed.
Although the government introduced a wave of selective credit controls and unfavorable policy measures to cool the local property market, it also adopted a rent subsidy for people on low income and preferential interest rates for first-home purchases, H&B chief researcher Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨) said.
As a result, the housing market has started to stabilize on the back of real demand, especially for relatively affordable and small apartments, Hsu said.
Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) shared similar observations, adding that ultra-low interest rates of 1.775 percent and a loan capped at NT$10 million (US$309,329) enable first-home buyers to eye properties in Taipei and New Taipei City’s central locations.
That explained why transactions in and around Taipei improved noticeably, Great Home research head Mandy Lang (郎美囡) said, adding that the extension of mortgages from 20 years to 30 years under the favorable lending program also helped.
However, the pickup in transactions last month might not reverse a downturn in the overall housing market for the whole of this year, although it would mitigate the pace of decline, Lang said.
In the first three quarters of this year, cumulative deals totaled 168,165 in the six special municipalities, 10.3 percent fewer than the same period last year, data showed.
Full-year deals in the six regions would have difficulty exceeding the 280,000 mark, Lang said.
Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) advised against premature optimism toward the local housing market, as the central bank could return to tightening measures after a pause last month.
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