TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taichung recorded the steepest decline in existing-home prices among Taiwan’s six special municipalities in the first quarter, with average prices falling 8% year-over-year, Taiwan Realty said Monday.
Average transaction prices for existing homes in the major cities, excluding Taipei, showed market consolidation compared with a year earlier, per CNA. Taichung’s average price fell from NT$325,000 (US$10,300) per ping (about 3.3 square meters) to about NT$299,000, while Taipei was the only municipality to post gains and remain above NT$800,000 per ping.
Taiwan Realty said northern metropolitan areas were relatively resilient, while price declines in central and southern cities all exceeded 4.5%. In addition to Taichung’s 8% drop, Tainan fell 5.1%, and Kaohsiung declined 4.5%.
Taiwan Realty section chief Charlene Chang (張旭嵐) said the market was boosted in 2023 by the new housing loan program for young homebuyers and industrial development projects in central and southern Taiwan, according to CNA. This fueled investment-driven buying and pushed demand beyond supply, resulting in price-chasing through 2023 and 2024.
As mortgage restrictions cooled buying momentum and the market returned to rational demand, prices began correcting first in areas with a large housing supply and where expected development benefits have yet to materialize.
Chang said northern cities have seen milder declines due to stronger owner-occupier demand and support from infrastructure projects such as the Taoyuan MRT Green Line, New Taipei’s Sanying MRT Line, and the Danjiang Bridge. She added Taipei’s average price reached NT$818,000 per ping in the first quarter, up 0.9% from a year earlier, CNA reported.
Chang said Taipei’s mature development, chronically limited housing supply, and relatively consistent neighborhood fundamentals have helped support property values. She added that transactions are increasingly concentrated in smaller units due to total price pressures.
Recent projects have mainly focused on urban renewal and the redevelopment of older urban buildings, often in prime locations with high integration costs. These projects tend to feature lower total prices but higher unit prices, helping support Taipei housing prices, CNA noted.
Chen Ting-chung (陳定中), a senior manager at Taiwan Realty, said Taichung’s sharpest price contraction was driven first by buyer expectations for discounts in peripheral districts. He said a substantial supply of new housing projects in emerging rezoning areas, especially in coastal and outer districts, has intensified competition and weakened price support.
The second factor, Chen told CNA, was buyers seeking affordability in core districts, as high prices for new projects in prime areas pushed owner-occupiers toward relatively affordable existing homes. He added that transaction activity has shifted from higher-priced areas within the Taichung Ring Expressway to more affordable areas around the Central Taiwan Science Park and Taichung City Precision Machinery Innovation Technology Park.
