UNDETERRED:
The property developer’s chairman said he expects policymakers to introduce more measures to cool the market, but they would have a limited effect
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By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
Shining Building Business Co (鄉林建設) plans to launch new housing projects worth NT$30 billion (US$1.08 billion) in Taiwan and China, unfazed by increasing measures to cool the property market, company chairman Lai Cheng-i (賴正鎰) said yesterday.
The plan includes projects valued at NT$10.8 billion in Taiwan and NT$19 million in Chengdu, China, Lai said at a gathering in Taipei.
He said he believes that Taiwan’s policymakers would introduce more unfavorable local property market measures, as real-estate lending has failed to slow down.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
It would have a very limited effect, because excessive global liquidity, capital repatriation and low interest rates underpin housing price hikes, Lai said.
Housing price increases also have the support of economic fundamentals in light of the global economic recovery, and rising building material and labor costs, Lai said, adding that the government has encouraged the trend by offering incentives to encourage Taiwanese companies abroad to return home.
That explains why prices for industrial plots of land and office space have risen rapidly in the past few years, he said.
Housing prices across Taiwan last year rose 30 percent, with the increase approaching 100 percent in Taichung, as its improving infrastructure is attracting more people, Lai said.
A Taichung-based developer, Shining is looking for land in rezoning areas to take advantage of the demographic bonus, Lai said, adding that the company is about to launch a presale housing project in Changhua County that is only one stop from Taichung by high-speed rail.
The Changhua project has 238 apartment units on plot of 1,500 ping (4,959m2) and could generate NT$2.8 billion in sales, the company said.
In the meantime, Shining aims to focus on urban renewal projects in Taipei and New Taipei City, as such undertakings are not affected by credit controls, Lai said.
The firm aims to roll out urban renewal projects in Taipei’s Zhongshan (中山) and Wanhua (萬華) districts that respectively feature 130 and 320 apartment units on plots of 1,008 ping and 2,125 ping, and could generate NT$3.5 billion and NT$4.5 billion of revenue, he said.
Inflation concerns would lend strength to real-estate properties, Lai added.
Affiliated luxury hotel The Lalu (涵碧樓) near Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County has remained resilient, because it had been popular with domestic tourists during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lai said, adding that he expects authorities to maintain border controls for another year.
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