Taiwan Home Prices Have Yet to Bottom Out, but July Buying Picks Up and Taichung Leads the Seven Major Cities

Taiwan’s housing market is showing a split picture: prices have barely moved, but buyers are returning. Nationwide residential transactions reached 10,869 units in July, up 1.53% from June and 7.24% from a year earlier.

The price recovery remains modest. The Tsinghua Anfu housing price index, published by HousePlus, rose 0.05% from June. Compared with July last year, however, prices were still down 1.39%, although the decline narrowed from 1.77% the previous month.

Taichung posted the strongest monthly performance among Taiwan’s seven major cities, with prices rising 0.22%. New Taipei, Hsinchu, Tainan and Kaohsiung also recorded slight increases. Taipei and Taoyuan moved in the opposite direction, falling 0.02% and 0.01%, respectively.

Ho Shih-chang, executive director of the Xin Chuan Real Estate Think Tank, said the national index was “moving around virtually flat.” He described the market over the past year as remaining in a period of consolidation and correction. All seven major cities recorded year-on-year declines. Taipei fell just 0.03%, making it the most resilient, while Hsinchu’s 3.07% decline was the steepest. Taichung prices dropped 2.85% over the year.

The revival in activity was not limited to the major cities. Transactions increased year on year in most counties and cities, with the exceptions of Keelung, Yilan, Nantou and Pingtung. Ho said Nantou, Chiayi and Yunlin were unusual in recording annual price gains of 1.34%, 0.83% and 0.39%, respectively. Miaoli recorded one of the sharper declines, at 3.71%.

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moving around virtually flat