Housing sales in major cities down sharply in May on tariff worries

Taipei, June 2 (CNA) Transactions of residential and commercial property in the six largest cities in Taiwan fell more than 36 percent from a year earlier in May as uncertainties created by the United States' tariff polices made potential home buyers cautious.

Transactions of homes, shops and offices in Taipei, New Taipei and Taoyuan in the north, Taichung in central Taiwan, and Tainan and Kaohsiung in the south fell 36.1 percent year-over-year to 17,196 units in May, figures released by local governments on Monday showed.

That follows a year-over-year drop in transactions around all of Taiwan of 45.4 percent in April, when the draconian tariffs were first announced.

In the first five months of the year, sales of residential and commercial property fell 27.1 percent from a year earlier to 82,107 units, the lowest in eight years, the data indicated.

Lai Yung-chang (賴永昶), an analyst with Great Home Realty, said that since U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs sent the local stock market plunging, stock-price sensitive property investors in urban areas have turned cautious.

As a result, Lai said, Taipei, the most important property market in Taiwan with the highest home prices, saw transactions tumble 42.9 percent from a year earlier in May to 1,732 units, the lowest volume among the six major cities.

That followed a 46 percent drop in Taipei in April.

In New Taipei and Taoyuan, sales of residential and commercial property totaled 4,816 units and 3,266 units in May, respectively, down 27.4 percent and 23.6 percent from a year earlier, while transactions in Taichung also dropped 31.1 percent to 3,390 units.

Also in May, transactions in Tainan and Kaohsiung fell 38.9 percent and 56.6 percent, respectively, from a month earlier to 1,738 and 2,254 units.

On a month-on-month basis, transactions of homes, shops and offices rose 1.9 percent from April on the back of an increase in New Taipei and Taichung, while sales in the other four cities moved lower, the data showed.

In addition to the tariff issues, Chen Chin-ping (陳金萍), a research manager with Yung Ching Realty Group, said that with the selective credit controls imposed by the central bank still in place, property transaction volumes were likely to remain low.

Taiwan Realty Enterprise section chief Charlene Chang (張旭嵐) said, however, that the announcement by AI chip designer Nvidia Corp. that it will build its Taiwan headquarters in the Beitou and Shihlin area will likely boost home prices in the area and neighboring regions.