House prices up by 2.25% y-o-y in Q2 2019

Nationwide house prices rose by 2.25% during the year to Q2 2019, in contrast to the previous year’s decline of 0.27%. Quarter-on-quarter, house prices increased 0.55% in Q2 2019. House prices have fallen over the past three years, after dramatic government measures to curb speculative house purchases.

Demand is surging; supply continues to rise

Property sales in the country’s six major cities (Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung) soared 17% to 22,949 units in July 2019 from a year earlier. This was the highest level of monthly sales for three and a half years.

Construction activity is surging. In the first half of 2019, the total number of residential construction licenses issued rose by 16% to 68,215 from a year earlier, following a 32.3% growth in 2018, according to the Ministry of Interior.

Rents, rental yields: amazingly low yields in Tapei at 1.57%

Taipei apartment costs are at $7,112 per sq. m. 

Taiwan: typical city centre apartment buying price, monthly rent (120 sq. m)
  Buying price Rate per month Yield
Taipei   $853,440 € 1,117 1.57%

Recent news. Taiwan’s economy grew by 2.41% in Q2 2019 from a year earlier, up from expansions of 1.72% in Q1 2019 and 1.78% in Q4 2018, amidst strong export growth, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS). Last May, DGBAS predicted that the Taiwanese economy would grow by a modest 2.19% this year.