Major commercial property transactions in Taiwan were lackluster in the first six months of this year, compared with the strong residential market, due to a high comparison base over the same period last year, property broker Savills Taiwan (第一太平戴維斯) said yesterday.
Commercial property deals of more than NT$300 million (US$9.23 million) totaled NT$65.8 billion in the first half of this year, suggesting a 10 percent retreat from a year earlier, due mainly to an unfavorable comparison base linked to the liquidation sales of buildings owned by a real-estate investment trust (REIT).
The Shin Kong No. 1 REIT (新光一號) sold its six buildings in Taipei for NT$30.7 billion in the second quarter of last year.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
Lingering inflation and restrictive monetary policy helped weigh on the commercial segment of the real-estate market, unlike residential properties that have benefited from favorable lending terms and wealth inflation induced by stock rallies at home and abroad.
Office buildings appeared to be the most in demand, generating NT$23.7 billion of the deals, or 36 percent, Savills Taiwan said.
Tatung Co (大同) sold an old office building in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) for NT$13.13 billion, equivalent to NT$15.26 million per ping (3.3m2) for the land on which the buyer group indicated it plans to build a luxury apartment complex after securing more nearby plots, it said.
Rich Development Inc (力麒建設) sold its headquarters to an institutional buyer for NT$1.28 billion and an individual investor acquired an office building near Yuanshan MRT Station for NT$1.8 billion, it said.
The deals reflected keen interest in existing office buildings by investors seeking future value gains, Savills Taiwan said.
By contrast, corporate buyers prefer presale or newly completed office buildings that can better meet self-occupancy and energy conservation needs, as well as enhance their working efficiency, it added.
Industrial properties are also popular, driving a sizeable NT$17.5 billion of the transactions, the broker said.
I-Hwa Industrial Co (怡華實業) bought an old plant in New Taipei City for NT$3.1 billion, Sigurd UTC Corp (矽格聯測) purchased a used plant in Hsinchu City for NT$1.68 billion and Delta Electronics Co (台達電) acquired two buildings in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖), it said.
Property developers emerged as the most active buyers, pouring NT$21.3 billion into the commercial property market so far this year, followed by technology firms at NT$16.2 billion, Savills Taiwan said.
Developers are buying old buildings to replenish their land holdings, while semiconductor firms are expanding their research and development capacity as a result of a boom in demand for artificial intelligence products, the broker 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