TAIPEI: The number of property transactions in the six special municipalities last month declined 6.6 percent from a year earlier, as buyers remained cautious, despite lower borrowing costs, real-estate brokers said yesterday.
A total of 17,083 properties changed hands last month in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, a 4 percent decline from May, brokers said, citing the government data.
“The figures increase the chance of the local market faring worse this year than in 2001, when the technology bubble bust and depressed transactions to 259,000 units,” Evertrust Rehouse Co spokesman Lin Tai-lung said.
In the first half of this year, housing transactions in the six municipalities totaled about 82,000 units, down by 18 percent from the same period last year and the lowest in 18 years, Lin said.
Summer is typically the slow season for the market, as many Taiwanese take family trips abroad, while Ghost Month — which starts next month — is bound to further dampen buying interest, Lin said.
Transactions in Taipei plunged 17.4 percent from a year earlier to 2,023 units, although the figure represented a 10.3 percent rise from May, according to government data.
The completion of a new housing project in Beitou District accounted for the monthly increase, which does not represent a healthy recovery in demand, Lin said.
The market has yet to hit bottom given a continued retreat in trading volume, Evertrust general manager Yeh Ling-chi said on Wednesday, adding that interest rate cuts might not end the situation unless sellers lower prices significantly.
Property transfers in New Taipei City dropped 8.2 percent year-on-year to 3,792 units, with the monthly decline standing at 3.2 percent, government data showed.
Taoyuan proved the statistical exception, with transactions rising 18.8 percent to 3,991 units, government data showed, thanks to the delivery of new housing projects sold a few years earlier.
The figure was a 9.3 percent decline from May, as some residents completed ownership registrations in that month, Lin said.
Taoyuan might see more trading disruptions ahead due to the large size of new housing projects near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Transactions in Taichung tumbled 28.5 percent year-on-year to 2,732 units, while transactions in Tainan declined 13.4 percent to 1,478 units, according to government data.
Transfers in Kaohsiung rose 8.7 percent from a year earlier, due to the completion of a new housing project, data showed.
