The business climate monitor for presale and newly completed houses last month remained “green” in northern Taiwan, suggesting steady growth that is favorable for the upcoming spring sales season, Chinese-language My Housing Monthly (住展雜誌) said on Thursday.
The total score stood at 44.2, up 0.5 points from December last year on the back of improving buying interest and sales rates, the magazine said, adding that the volume of new housing declined, while the room for price concessions held steady.
Developers put more than NT$40 billion (US$1.27 billion) of presale projects on the market last month, it said.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
However, uncertainty linked to last month’s presidential and legislative elections, and the advent of the Lunar New Year holiday capped the number of projects in Taipei and Taoyuan, My Housing Monthly spokesman Chen Ping-chen (陳炳辰) said.
The number of newly completed houses fell below 200 units last month, compared with more than 500 units the previous month, as developers showed listless interest in keeping with the tradition of wrapping up construction ahead of the Lunar New Year, Chen said.
However, potential buyers grew 14.3 percent to 23.2 teams a week and 3.2 teams among them closed deals, with an upturn of 6.7 percent from a month earlier, he said.
Rising buying interest shrank the number of projects for sale by 6.7 percent to 1,085 from 1,163 in the previous month, Chen said.
The gauge on price concessions stayed roughly intact at about 10 percent as the supply side sought to defend profit margin against construction cost hikes, Chen said, adding that they expect the measure to drop to single-digit figures.
The data are positive for the spring sales season from late next month to the end of April, as the central bank is unlikely to raise interest rates and political uncertainty has ended, My Housing Monthly said, adding that major developers Huaku Development Co (華固建設), Shining Building Business Co (鄉林建設), Cathay Real Estate Development Co (國泰建設) and Continental Development Corp (大陸建設) are about to launch new projects.
Standard Chartered senior economist Tony Phoo (符銘財) on Thursday said that the chances of a boom in the housing market are slim as long as the government maintains a restrictive policy stance to address worsening housing affordability.
The Ministry of Finance last week said that self-occupied luxury homes may not qualify for the flat 1 percent house taxes, as it broadened the definition of “luxury homes” to ones valued at more than NT$60 million in Taipei, more than NT$40 million in New Taipei City and more than NT$30 million in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
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