Ministry of the Interior: National urban land price index rises 1.49%, clearly slowing

On the 15th, the Ministry of the Interior released the 45th issue of the urban land price index. The national urban land price index rose 1.49%, the lowest increase since 1999 (the past 12 issues), showing a clear slowdown. Among the municipalities, counties (cities), the largest increase was in Yilan County, up 5.25%; among the municipalities, Tainan City had the largest increase, up 2.69%.

The 45th issue of the "Urban Land Price Index" publication by the Ministry of the Interior shows that from April 1 to September 30, 2015, the national urban land price index was 119.28 (with March 31, 2013 as the base period), an increase of 1.49%. Compared with the previous (44th) issue (2.14%) and the same (43rd) issue last year (4.25%), the increase has clearly slowed. In addition, the increases in all municipalities, counties (cities) also showed a slowing trend. Only 5 counties and cities - Yilan County, Taitung County, Chiayi City, Kinmen County and Lienchiang County - had increases of more than 3%, while the land price indexes of the remaining municipalities, counties (cities) rose only modestly.

Among the counties and cities with larger increases, Yilan County rose 5.25%, the largest increase. The Yilan County Government said that because National Highway No. 5 and the surrounding transportation network are convenient, the county's recreation and leisure industry is vibrant, and crowds gather at tourist attractions and major commercial districts, driving business opportunities and stable land price development. In addition, in September 2015, publicly auctioned buildable land in the Luodong Zhulin planned zone section was expropriated, the Yilan City Biomedical Industry Specific Special Zone, and the Yilan City Beijin area urban land readjustment achieved a 100% auction rate. With private capital continuing to flow in, land prices continued to rise.

Among the municipalities, Tainan City rose 2.69%, the largest increase. The Tainan City Government said that because it has actively promoted transportation construction in recent years, such as the northbound ramp of the National Highway No. 1 Dawan Interchange, which is about to open and will then provide direct access to Tainan City Railway Station, and because the tourism industry is vibrant, land prices have risen. In addition, looking at the number of land transactions, the number of land transactions nationwide in the current period was 263,994, a decrease of 8.21% from 287,597 in the previous period, and a decrease of 19.63% compared with 328,462 in the same period last year, showing a trend of shrinking transaction volume.