TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Dozens of people lined up in Tainan in the wee hours on Wednesday (Dec. 8) for the chance to purchase an apartment in a red-hot housing market.
The number of people queuing at the reception center in Rende District grew from 20 to 30 at midnight, to about 100 in the morning. Some individuals even paid up to NT$3,000 (US$108) to hire someone to line up for them, wrote UDN.
Located in the southwestern part of Tainan, the residential project is a 14-story building with 531 units, and an area of between 24 pings (79 square meters) and 44 pings. Construction began in October, while a ping is priced somewhere between NT$320,000 and NT$380,000.
Would-be buyers have to deposit NT$70,000 for a unit that comes with a parking space and NT$90,000 with two parking spaces, per the city government. The situation reflects a trend in the city in which developers receive guests on a first-come-first-serve basis to allow for fairer access, amid robust demand for a house, per TVBS.
Developers have jumped on the bandwagon of the real estate boom in the city known for its gastronomical and historical attractions in recent years. The city of 1.88 million is considered to have great potential, driven by investment in public infrastructure, expansion of the Southern Taiwan Science Park, and the arrival of a new shopping mall －the Mitsui Outlet Park Tainan－near the Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) Tainan Station.
For projects in proximity to the THSR Tainan Station, prices for an apartment are expected to soar to over NT$300,000 a ping, according to ETToday.
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