Bulls and bears battle: housing market prices and volume to edge up next year

In 2013 the housing market weathered political and economic storms such as the extension and revision of the luxury tax, and home prices kept rising. Looking ahead to 2014, real estate agents expect the housing market to show a slight rise in prices and a slight increase in volume next year, with small-unit homes continuing to be hot.

National Real Estate said that in 2013, after the Ma-Wang political strife, deliberations on amending the luxury tax to extend the lock-up period, Central Bank Governor Perng Fai-nan's warning about rising interest rates, and doubts over the withdrawal of US quantitative easing (QE), housing market investment turned wait-and-see; but recently, with fine-tuning of the draft luxury tax amendment and the delayed QE exit, the wait-and-see atmosphere has gradually faded.

National Real Estate pointed out that looking ahead to housing market trends in 2014, these include the continued promotion of various major public works, fine-tuning of the luxury tax and the delayed QE exit; on the other hand, the market will also face heavy-handed government efforts to curb housing speculation and interference from the seven-in-one elections in the second half of the year. It is expected that the 2014 housing market will see ten major trends.

These ten trends are: "No soft touch in curbing housing speculation; short-term speculators exit", "Housing prices at full levels; income-type products are preferable", "Mortgage lending turns conservative; homebuyers should manage finances prudently", "Housing market M-shaped; super luxury homes take the stage", "Five-municipality elections will sink into war of words; pre-sale homes flood the market"

In addition, "Fine-tuning of the luxury tax suppresses the unhealthy trend of speculation", "Follow transportation construction; location is the king of home buying", "Developers march south; central and southern housing prices have promise ahead", "Fraud cases occur frequently; performance guarantees", "Salesperson examinations begin; the real estate brokerage industry keeps the strong and eliminates the weak".

National Real Estate said that in the face of the bullish and bearish challenges in the 2014 housing market, Taiwan's overall economic growth, rising interest rates, and the timing of the QE exit remain important factors affecting housing prices, and it is estimated that in the coming year the housing market will show a state of "prices rising slowly and volume edging up".