Commercial property transactions last quarter spiked 51.5 percent year-on-year to NT$21.2 billion (US$662.94 million), driven by strong demand for office buildings from different sectors, property broker Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan said yesterday.
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Co (台達電) bought two office buildings in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) from Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽) for NT$4.79 billion to meet self-occupancy needs, making it the largest deal in the quarter, the broker said.
Goldsun Building Materials Co (國產建材) sold a commercial complex in Tainan for NT$1.64 billion, the second-largest transaction, followed by the acquisition by Taishin Life Insurance Co (台新人壽) of an office building in Tainan for NT$1.45 billion, it said.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
Strong office demand and ample liquidity accounted for the impressive showing in the commercial property market, Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan said, adding that self-occupancy demand would continue to drive the market this quarter and beyond.
Land deals totaled NT$63.7 billion during the first quarter, above NT$60 billion for the first time since 2022, suggesting the market is emerging from selective credit controls and other unfavorable policy measures, the broker said.
It was a stark contrast to the average of NT$30 billion a quarter last year, it said.
As for residential property, Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan managing director Billy Yen (顏炳立) said the government’s interest subsidy for first-home purchases and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) capacity expansion have lent support to the segment.
Presale projects have proved popular in locations near TSMC’s new plants nationwide, as the plants create well-paid jobs for people with real housing demand, Yen said.
Separately, property transactions in the nation's six special municipalities climbed to 23,409 units last month, rising by 12.2 percent from a year earlier, as the government's interest subsidy spurred sentiment among first-home buyers and people’s attitude toward real-estate market turned more positive, data compiled by local land administration agencies showed yesterday.
Among the six special municipalities, transactions in Taipei jumped the most by 34.9 percent to 3,042 units and Tainan surged 32.7 percent to 2,894 units, while Taoyuan rose 16.9 percent to 3,970 units and Kaohsiung increased 11.5 percent to 3,839 units. New Taipei City saw transaction grow 2.4 percent to 5,671 units but Taichung witinessed a decline of 1.3 percent to 3,993 units, data showed.
Overall, total transactions in the six cities during the first quarter increased 28.3 percent from a year earlier to 63,226 units, data showed.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would