Taipei, Dec. 2 (CNA) Transactions of residential and commercial property for November staged a rebound, up over 10 percent from a month earlier, on peak season effects with the year coming to an end, according to data compiled by local city governments.
The data showed transactions of homes, shops and offices in the six largest cities in Taiwan -- Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung -- for November rose 13 percent to 18,841 units from October, when housing sales fell 12 percent from a month earlier.
Charlene Chang (張旭嵐), a spokesperson for Taiwan Realty Enterprise, said demand in the local property market tended to be strong at the end of a year since Taiwanese consumers like to buy a new house before the arrival of a new year.
In addition, Chang said, those who put up their property for sale became willing to cut prices in a bid to strike a quick deal at the end of the year, which also boosted transactions in the month.
Chang Ching-yun (張瀞勻), head of research at National Realty, agreed, saying prices of many second-hand homes fell to a recent low in November, and along with the launch of new housing projects to boost supply, transactions bounced back in November.
In that month, Taichung, in central Taiwan, saw housing sales hit 3,775 units, soaring 39.6 percent month-on-month, the largest growth among the six cities, the data showed. Taichung's transactions also rose 21.1 percent from a year earlier, the data indicated.
New Taipei, the most populous city in Taiwan, recorded a 7.2 percent month-on-month increase in residential and commercial housing transactions at 4,384 units, the highest sales volume among the six cities in November, according to the data.
Taipei, the capital city, which is the most watched property market in Taiwan, registered transactions of homes, shops and offices at 2,060 units in November, up 22.4 percent from a month, the data showed.
Lin Yu-hsin (林宇欣), a manager with National Realty, said home prices in certain districts in Taipei fell 10-20 percent from a recent high, which accelerated buying.
According to the data, transactions of residential and commercial houses in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, for November rose 38.8 percent from a month earlier to 3,752 units, while sales in Tainan and Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan also grew 22 percent and 22.9 percent, respectively, from a month earlier to 1,794 units and 3,076 units.
Taiwan Realty's Chang said such strong buying interest is expected to continue into January ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which will fall in mid-February.
Chang said housing transactions in Taiwan are expected to hit as many as 280,000 units for the entire year of 2017, compared with 245,396 units seen in 2016.
(By Pan Chih-yi and Frances Huang)
Enditem/cs