Property transactions in the six special municipalities climbed to 23,413 units last month, rising by double-digit percentage points from a year earlier, as preferential interest rates spurred buying among people with real demand and storefronts showed an uptick, brokers said yesterday.
The pickup was broad-based, but most evident in southern Taiwan, where fence-sitters took action to close deals, Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) research head Mandy Lang (郎美囡) said.
Transactions in Tainan and Kaohsiung jumped 18.3 percent from one month earlier to 3,198 and 3,502 units respectively, helped by new house deliveries and first-home purchases, Lang said.
Photo: CNA
The pace of gains, at 98.6 percent in Tainan and 29.3 percent in Kaohsiung, was much stronger compared with a year earlier, as the two southern cities benefitted from high-tech firms’ capacity expansions, the analyst added.
Property deals expanded 15.5 percent to 4,299 units in Taichung and rose 14.7 percent to 3,931 units in Taoyuan, local government agencies said on their Web site, as improving infrastructure and relatively affordability continued to lend support.
Transactions in Taipei advanced 8.1 percent from one month earlier and edged up 1.5 percent in New Taipei City, local statistics showed.
The introduction of preferential rates for first-home purchases by the Cabinet played a key role in facilitating the sentiment change, Lang said, adding that the central bank’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged in June and September also helped.
The central bank is due to review its policy rates in two weeks after leaving room in September for renewed tightening to curb inflation if necessary. Consumer prices climbed above the 3 percent mark in October, but might return to the central bank’s 2 percent target next year.
H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) chief researcher Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨) said she observed a pickup in buying interest for small storefronts and office spaces, as they can generate stable and regular rent income, but do not require large capital.
Such objects have become bright spots for individual buyers as companies need to obtain government approval before going through the deals, Hsu said.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
RSS