Taipei, July 4 (CNA) Sales of residential and commercial property in Taiwan's six major metropolitan areas in June rose at a double digit pace from a month earlier, showing continued signs of recovery after a dismal 2016.
Transactions of homes, offices and shops in Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung rose a combined 16 percent in June from a month earlier to 20,351 units after another 16 percent month-on-month increase in May, figures compiled by the six cities showed.
The June figure was also 19 percent higher than a year earlier.
Tseng Ching-der, a research manager with Sinyi Realty Inc., said the local property market's momentum accelerated in June, indicating that the market may finally be stabilizing.
Tseng said the adverse impact resulting from new property-related tax measures that took effect on Jan. 1, 2016 is fading, prompting home buyers to return to the market.
The new measures aimed to curb property speculation by taxing the gains on sales of second homes within a certain period of time from the date of purchase by up to 45 percent.
In 2016, housing sales in Taiwan dipped to a new low of 245,396 units, and transactions in the six major cities were down 16.6 percent from a year earlier.
Amid signs of a recovery, transactions of homes, shops and offices in the six cities totaled 98,633 units in the first six months of this year, up about 20 percent from a year earlier, the statistics showed.
Tseng said New Taipei saw a 31 percent increase in housing transactions in June, the highest of the six cities, as people looking to buy homes for their own use flocked back to the market, drawn in by new housing inventory in the city.
Transactions of residential and commercial property in New Taipei in June breached the 5,000 unit mark to 5,614 units, up 48 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
The year-on-year increase was also the highest among the six major cities.
In Taipei, the most closely watched property market in Taiwan, housing transactions totaled 2,188 units in June, up 9 percent from a month earlier, sales in Taoyuan rose 15 percent month-on-month to 3,483 units, and transactions in Taichung grew 16 percent to 3,895 units, the statistics showed.
Also, housing transactions in Tainan rose 8 percent from a month earlier to 1,823 units in June, while sales in Kaohsiung gained 5 percent to 3,348 units.
Tseng said that if the momentum continues, residential and commercial property sales for the entire 2017 could top 260,000 units.
