Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/03
By: Wei Shu and Frances Huang
Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) Transactions involving residential and commercial properties in Taiwan could fall 
to a new low in 2016 as buying interest, particularly in northern Taiwan, remains weak, analysts said on Saturday.
Transactions of homes, shops and offices in 2016 are likely to reach only 250,000 units or lower, compared with 292,550 units in 2015, analysts said.
In the first 10 months of this year, transactions of residential and commercial housing totaled 197,201 units, according to statistics released by the Ministry of the Interior. Although the fourth quarter is a traditional peak season for the property market, it is still unlikely to offset the impact of the slowdown in the previous three quarters and transactions for the whole year are unlikely to bounce back, analysts said.
Tseng Ching-der (曾敬德), a research manager with Sinyi Realty Inc. (信義房屋) is downbeat about the local property market for this year based on existing sales records nationwide and especially those for the six major cities, which serve as an indicator to the Taiwan property market as a whole. [FULL STORY]
