IMPROVING SENTIMENT:Sellers in Taipei regained some confidence after the city floated plans to cut the housing tax to ease the burden on homeowners, an analyst said

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 03, 2017
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Major property brokers saw transactions increase mildly last month, driven by real demand from people wanting to move house ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), the nation’s only listed broker, reported a 3.5 percent monthly increase in transactions, mostly in Taoyuan and Taichung, thanks to their relatively affordable housing prices, Sinyi researcher Tseng Ching-der (增進德) said.

“The pickup is modest despite the high sales season, as buyers generally remained conservative and sellers grew less eager to grant concessions after the government indicated plans to lower holding costs,” Tseng said in a statement.

Transactions picked up 17.3 percent in Taoyuan and 10.5 percent in Taichung last month from a month earlier, but shrank 10 percent in Taipei, 5.8 percent in New Taipei City and 9.6 percent in Kaohsiung, Tseng said, citing internal data.    [FULL  STORY]