I am very interested to know if my area is unique, or if this is a larger phenomena – but here in Zhubei City (Hsinchu County) there is an unreal amount of empty high-end condo buildings. My own building is one of them. The thing I don’t understand is that new buildings are still going up everywhere. Who is going to buy these things?
My question: is this happening in other places in Taiwan too? Anyone find any great deals because of this?
(I am a renter and have what I consider to be a very good deal on a brand new renovated and furnished 50 ping apt. @ 33K NT a month. Considering buying a place. The same kind of place in the US would cost about 3-4X as much)
One reason for the revival (so to speak) of ChuPei is the location of the Taiwan High Speed Rail terminal there. ChuPei changed from a one-horse town in the early 2000’s to a dynamic city with nice wide streets, restaurant in abundance, and hundreds of pricey new apartment blocks.
Believe me, seven-eight years ago I would not have lived in ChuPei even if I got paid to do so. Houses were cheap, and rent rock bottom. In those days quite a few expats rented mansions in ChuPei and commuted to Hsinchu because it was so cheap. ChuPei was considered by many as a shithole. Not the case anymore.
[quote=“Anubis”]One reason for the revival (so to speak) of ChuPei is the location of the Taiwan High Speed Rail terminal there. ChuPei changed from a one-horse town in the early 2000’s to a dynamic city with nice wide streets, restaurant in abundance, and hundreds of pricey new apartment blocks.
Believe me, seven-eight years ago I would not have lived in ChuPei even if I got paid to do so. Houses were cheap, and rent rock bottom. In those days quite a few expats rented mansions in ChuPei and commuted to Hsinchu because it was so cheap. ChuPei was considered by many as a shithole. Not the case anymore.[/quote]
Yes, this is the reason we moved here. But, still waiting to get neighbors. My parking garage is ghost town.
It’s not too far from the Science Park, so maybe it’ll fill up once the economy picks up again.
We’ve been looking at living in Zhubei and Taichung (renting). Both offer very good value for money compared to damp Taipei.
The phenomenom you are witnessing in Zhubei is due to overinvestment related to the High Speed Rail Line and land speculation. Some people made a pile of quick money and the others piled in.
I saw a 3bdroon, fitted out 35ping apt. for 21000 there recently including parking space and admin fee. Good value to be had. renting, not sure about buying as they are still building apts but half of the current ones are empty! Zhubei itself has lots of restaurants etc and plenty of space…still lacking in character as most towns in Taiwan are.
The rent is still more expensive than apartments in Hsinchu, the equivalent of the one above was offered to us for 15000/mth, a bit older that’s all but also beside some nice parks, good area.
Now we have been looking at Taichung, Taichung has the best value for money for modern luxurious apartments. These places would go for 35k-40k in Taipei and only 20-25k in Taichung. We have found a place that is 21k/mth, never been lived in, swimming pool, free internet, no admin fee (because not officially open yet), beautiful modern furniture and kitchen…Taichung isn’t that rough at all…underrated place. Even in the central area you can get huge amazing brand new apts for 26k/mth with city-wide views.
It’s hard to know how these things will go price wise…I’d invest in Taichung because they are constructing a subway line now and wages are depressed there, I think the only way is up in the future.
[quote=“headhonchoII”]Now we have been looking at Taichung, Taichung has the best value for money for modern luxurious apartments. These places would go for 35k-40k in Taipei and only 20-25k in Taichung. We have found a place that is 21k/mth, never been lived in, swimming pool, free internet, no admin fee (because not officially open yet), beautiful modern furniture and kitchen…Taichung isn’t that rough at all…underrated place. Even in the central area you can get huge amazing brand new apts for 26k/mth with city-wide views.
It’s hard to know how these things will go price wise…I’d invest in Taichung because they are constructing a subway line now and wages are depressed there, I think the only way is up in the future.[/quote]
How do you normally go apartment hunting? Do you use some type of a realtor person? How does their commission work (for renting)?
I’ve noticed all the fancy apartment buildings going up here in Taichung and have been wondering who is going to fill them up. I assume most are for sale and not available for rent, but it looks like as you say, there are some good rental deals available.
You can look online or get help from Taiwanese partner/friends. Need to check the Chinese websites.
The other way is to look for the realtors in that area, usually they have a little outlet near the bottom of these large apt buildings. Not all of them do rentals, but some do and a minority specialise in rentals. Go in and tell them your budget, how many rooms, ping, how old etc. They can usually show a few right there and then. Actually you have discovered the secret of Taiwan, it is extremely good value now compared to most Asian countries…you can live in nice new places for small change, your deal of 33k/mth for 50ping in Zhubei is about right for Zhubei.
There are beautiful new apts going for 3-4 million NTD in Taichung, Taipei you are looking at double to triple that, it is even more expensive in dumps like XinZhuang than nice places in Taichung. The rent for a new apt fitted out in Taichung with swimming pool etc. is 20k/mth starting, impossible to find in Taipei City. The rent to purchase ratio is higher than Zhubei, I think that it is a good indicator that purchasing a house in Taichung is more reasonable. But I don’t much about property.
The problem for most folks with living in Taichung is that salaries are much lower in general and they don’t have the jobs that can be found in NeiHu, Nangang, Xinchu Science Park . Taipei commands a higher price because salaries are higher and retired folks, govt agencies and people who think think they have class like to live there
When most of the buildings around here are about finished, the developer builds a temporary but quite impressive sales office. These sales offices are not designed to last, despite being outfitted with fine furniture, elegant decor and large floor to ceiling windows. Now most of them are falling apart. A few have been torn down already since since their obvious shoddy construction would likely dissuade anyone from buying a condo.
Thanks for the info. My current lease should be up by spring next year, so I’m hoping to get myself a nice modern apartment in central Taichung. From what I hear here, a budget of 25-30K monthly rent should give me a good choice selection.
Not that I’m anywhere close to being ready to buy an apartment (since I have no credit locally), but out of curiosity, is it best to buy when the sales office first sprouts up (before the building is even built?), or after the building has been built and they are stuck with several unsold apartments?
Also, when buying an apartment in a building that hasn’t been built, do you have a say in design? Can I choose a bigger kitchen than normal apartments and sacrifice space elsewhere instead?
[quote=“Adam_CLO”]Thanks for the info. My current lease should be up by spring next year, so I’m hoping to get myself a nice modern apartment in central Taichung. From what I hear here, a budget of 25-30K monthly rent should give me a good choice selection.
Not that I’m anywhere close to being ready to buy an apartment (since I have no credit locally), but out of curiosity, is it best to buy when the sales office first sprouts up (before the building is even built?), or after the building has been built and they are stuck with several unsold apartments?
Also, when buying an apartment in a building that hasn’t been built, do you have a say in design? Can I choose a bigger kitchen than normal apartments and sacrifice space elsewhere instead?
Thanks in advance![/quote]
I’d be interested if anyone has experience/stories with preconstruction purchases in Taiwan as well. It seems there could be some deals out there at the moment.
When most of the buildings around here are about finished, the developer builds a temporary but quite impressive sales office. These sales offices are not designed to last, despite being outfitted with fine furniture, elegant decor and large floor to ceiling windows. Now most of them are falling apart. A few have been torn down already since since their obvious shoddy construction would likely dissuade anyone from buying a condo.[/quote]
I know a guy who got every piece of furniture in his house, as well as a bunch of dishes from such a place. Those and showhomes, apparently. He says sometimes the people running them just up and leave, and no one comes back to claim anything. Interesting idea, anyway.
We are living in a house in NW JhuBei, right at the intersection of the River and #1 freeway. Rent is in the range of 18,000.00 NTD per month for a 63 ping 5 story townhouse (garage on the bottom) in a tiny subdivision which is so small and crowded together both next door and across the path that I have to back my car in 3 times to get it in the Garage.
The good news is the low rent - well within our budget, as well as 3km proximity to Carrefour and the city center so we are not far away from what we need. The bad news is that this house has all the cheapest fixtures in it with really cheap furniture and a tiny kitchen - so i is scraping the bottom of what we are looking for. It’s also loud around here - businesses working away and the trains running behind the develoment.
THe shocker part of this is that the owner wants 8-8.5 Million NTD to buy outright. For this house? It isn’t worth more than 5-6milion not including renovations (needs a lot…) some of the overly high price is drving us further north to developents that are out on the fields with more space and better value (68-70 ping, older houses) but nice guardens…
I’m no real estate expert, but from my casual observation, there is a glut of new home construction in Taipei, too. With everyone talking of a low birth rate, who the hell is gonna buy all these new units? People suggest that it could be people from China when the borders are opened up, or these could be replacement units for dilapidated buildings, or maybe people moving from the south, but it still seems like a major housing bubble to me.
agreed - look at the new city in danshui! they are adding like 300 units per month, and the prices go up by half a million a year - already there is little financial advantage of buying in danshui over banciao
guess best thing to do it save save save and hope you have enough for when the bubble bursts - I just wonder what the gov reaction will be. There is so much powerful invested interest in contruction/real estate
I predict that the first action will be to strip illegal rooftop housing by a multitude of “anonymous complaints” so reducing the amount of space by 1/5 in many areas (4 floors plus “5th floor roof appt.”). This still won’t make up for the overcapacity though, but at least the construction lobby will be able to keep workers busy for a few months. Next, i guess beautification laws or condemnation / forced compulsory purchase of low storey high value housing which will be replaced by villas and mansions for the rich?
that’s the issue, but locals are like sheep, so when the bubble bursts they’ll flock elsewhere - more popular with eltrapraneurs (sp?!) near me is buying farmland, huge swathes of land so if the real estate bubble keeps expanding they capitalize on such increases, but also, once it pops their land is still valuable, especially for as food demand increases
Also, the reason so many people have so much invested in property is why i think the gov will have to take extreme action once it does pop - hence why i think the illegal building will be clamped down on heavily.
then again, maybe the chinese will come and all will be solved once they do… I’m gonna put my head back in the sand until then
