Presale housing projects in northern Taiwan for the sales season beginning on Monday next week total NT$213.46 billion (US$6.59 billion), a 17.2 percent pickup from a year earlier, as developers apparently emerge from monetary tightening and unfavorable policy measures, property research My Housing Monthly found.
It is the highest volume since 2021, when the government tightened property taxes, raised interest rates and banned transfers of presale house purchase agreements to slow capital flows to the property market and curb house price hikes, the magazine’s spokesman Chen Ping-chen (陳炳辰) said.
The change in sentiment has to do with Taiwan’s improving economy and ongoing rallies on the local bourse, which lends support to a wealth effect, Chen said.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
The government’s interest subsidy for first-home purchases has also motivated people to take action, Chen added.
Presale houses even reaped a windfall from the April 3 earthquake, which measured magnitude 7.2 on the Richter scale, and the ensuing aftershocks, as new houses are believed to be more quake resistant, the analyst said.
New Taipei City would see the entry of NT$102.7 billion of presale projects, accounting for 48.1 percent of the overall volume, as developers plan to build major apartment complexes of over NT$10 billion in Sanchong (三重), Jhonghe (中和) and Linkou (林口) districts, the publication said.
These second-tier districts have gained popularity in recent years on the back of relative affordability, and enhanced transport convenience and ease of living, Chen said.
In addition, Banciao (板橋), Wugu (五股) and Damshui (淡水) districts would have presale projects valued between NT$3 billion and NT$6 billion, the publication said.
Taoyuan and Taipei would be home to presale projects of NT$52.6 billion and NT$48.35 billion, contributing 24.6 percent and 22.7 percent respectively, Chen said.
Developers are seeking to introduce residential complexes near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, which is building a new terminal to meet growing demand for cross-border air traffic as Taiwan’s importance on the world stage continues to rise, Chen said.
Presale projects in Taipei are concentrated in Wenshan (文山), Zhongzheng (中正) Zhongshan (中山) and Beitou (北投) districts.
The capital city always captures the attention of developers, although soaring house prices have scared away young and less well-off buyers, Chen said.
Developers in Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County were relatively quiet, given the overall volume was at NT$5 billion.
The conservative practice mainly reflects a patient strategy on the part of developers who opt to digest unsold houses on hand first, rather than cut prices to facilitate sales, Chen said.
Some had to postpone marketing schedules due to failures in obtaining licenses or building reception facilities, the analyst said.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his