The KMT will be floating rumors that Chen is leading in the polls, and then will engineer a big stock selloff in the days before the election, to show the business community’s “dissatisfaction” with the DPP . . . . . . . so be careful!!!
Is anyone investing in real estate here? With the state of the economy and the housing market being in a slump I would think that this is a good time to find some smoking deals. Just curious…
Hans
Taichung may still be in a slump, but Taipei’s real estate market has been showing some signs of life lately. It’s already risen by 10% in the last 12 months. But most of the purchases are for self-use, not for investment. The problem with the current market is not buying real estate, but getting out of it. Last thing you want is to get stuck with an apartment you can’t get rid of and have all your money tied down by it.
[quote=“Hans Castorp”]Is anyone investing in real estate here? With the state of the economy and the housing market being in a slump I would think that this is a good time to find some smoking deals. Just curious…
Hans[/quote]The real estate market is most likely still in a bubble. In fact, most large cities in the world are experiencing a real-estate market bubble… Asia’s even worse. It depends where you buy.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2003/08/02/2003061997
But what are you going to do when China attacks? Or when a big earthquake hits?
It’d probably be best to invest in real estate in a ‘normal’ country. How’s the market where you’re from?
Getting eaten alive by the mortgage on a property I can’t get rid of is definitely something I don’t want to ‘enjoy’. My friends here in Taichung tell me that buying investment real estate is a bad idea because even with the market being in a slump the vacancy rate on rental properties is fairly high and rents are too low. For it to be worth it you would have to find a place that you could rent out and have the place pay for itself or even better put some cash in your pocket every month. 
My girlfriend and I are moving to Hsinchu in a few months and we are planning on buying an apartment there for living not investing though. I heard that the real estate market in Hsinchu is totally different and the rents are high and that vacancies are fairly low. So maybe Hsinchu is a better place to consider real estate investment. No big earthquakes there either. :shock:
Oh someone before was asking about buying mutual funds in Taiwan. At Fuhua Bank in Taichung you just need an ARC to buy Taiwan mutual funds. Though foriegners can’t buy international mutual funds in Taiwan. Whatever — with internet banking you can buy them from your bank back home without any hassles anyway.
Hans
Earthquakes aside, the main reason Hsinchu’s real estate value can stay high is the science and industrial park, where legions of high-salaried, white-collar techies work in Taiwan’s top electronic companies. I’d imagine the rent would be higher the closer you get to the science park.
I am by no means an expert and having lost around 20% in a year from a fund that I invested in I am put of those for good - same goes for shares, I see it as too risky. I therefore prefer investments that do not put the capital at risk and offer a guaranteed return.
Here is what I do/did:
- Never invest more money (in a risky investment) than you can afford to loose
- Spread the money (ie. not all eggs in one basket)
- Look for risk-free investments
- Stay clear of people that promise you unbelievable returns (
)
My money is therefore invested in:
- Fixed deposits
- Building loan association
- CD
- Life insurance
The building loan associations offer currently the best returns in Germany, max. between 4.0-4.75% (interest + bonus) if you do not take the loan and leave the money in there for at least 7 years.
If you are resident and employed in Germany you are also entitled to government benefits tied to the above, so the total return can exceed 6% / a.
Doesn’t apply to me though since I am not employed there and for tax reasons I prefer not to be resident there.
Thinking of investing into property when some of my investments expire but certainly not here in Taiwan, rather in Germany.
CDs that may be of interest for US citizens: ING Direct CDs
I was looking at those since I have some USD to invest but you have to be a US citizen.
The returns aren’t that great (surely nowhere close to those 40% mentioned) but at least they are safe, and that gives me peace of mind.
I notice that this thread is about a year old.
It would be interesting to know how that NT$100 investment would have performed had some of the advice, ideas from a year ago been taken.
eg The invest in chips , computers .?
The invest in Canadian property ?
I dont have the details but I think the likes of TSCM have done fairly well ?+ property seems to have continued its upward march despite the warnings of an impending bubble burst.?
Now that you mention it … 
I haven’t bought any real estate yet because I haven’t been back to Canada in 2 years.
I do have some Canadian funds, some American funds, and some NT funds.
The big step towards investing I took is… I bought some US funds here in Taiwan maybe 2 months ago. Compared to the Canadian dollar I’ve made about $300 CDN!!! But, that doesn’t include the fees I will have to pay to change those US dollars to CDN. If I compare how much NT I put in, I actually lost about 5,000NT if I wanted to change it back!!!
The above makes sense, to me.
I plan to buy some real estate this summer when I go back to Canada. I plan to buy a condo or house near the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant in Ontario. Maybe in Port Elgin or Kincardine.
Shiver, sounds like prime real estate 
. Do you ever watch The Simpsons? 
Now that the NTD has strengthened to the point that there are fewer than 33 NTD to the USD (32.9095 according to my source), would it make sense to buy USD if one had a pile of NTD saved up? :s I suspect it wouldn’t make much difference for most people other than George Soros, but I never actually tried to figure it out.
Dear Mother,
It would most definitely make sense to buy as long as you think the NT will not appreciate anymore. For those of us that have labored through the days of the 35’s-36’s to the NT dollar, 32.9 doesn’t sound half bad. Personally, I’m going to hang on a while longer; if it goes down to the low 32’s I’ll start changing, but not all at once in case it tends toward appreciating more later. If it doesn’t, I’ll just hold on to the NT. I long for those days when a mere 28 NT would buy you a dollar, but I fear we won’t be seeing that again in our lifetimes! My advice, set your target price and move when it hits.
Love your avatar, by the way. Sometimes I log on just to see it!
Good luck,
CK
I’d say that the US$ still has a lot more potential to depreciate than appreciate, while the opposite is true of the NT$. Therefore, you’d probably do better by hanging on to those NT$.
A lot of well-informed people expect the NT$ to end the year at around 32 to the US$. The yen looks more likely to appreciate than otherwise, possibly breaking the 100:1 mark against the US$, and that will pull the NT$ up with it. Nothing’s anywhere near certain in international currency markets, but that’s a pretty good bet from the current perspective.
But Omni, I tend to think that Mother Theresa is not writing from an “international currency” speculator’s perspective, but rather considering the USD to the NT alone, as in “When’s the best time to send money home?” If that’s the case, she may not be interested in the US dollar’s relative value to the Yen or any other currencies besides the NT.
Sorry, maybe I’m misinterpreting this, but that why I posted what I wrote above.
Obligingly,
CK
No, not considering sending it home. It’s just that, as an American, I think in dollars rather than yen. . . or pounds, shillings, ringits and baht. I suppose if I consider buying USD I might as well consider other currencies as well, though that hadn’t occurred to me. Instead, the alternatives for me would likely be (a) let it sit in Taipei bank, (b) buy Taiwan stocks or © spend it on beer.
Just kiddin’ about ©, but I guess my question was what kind of a percentage return could one hope for by converting to USD? If I did reasonably well in Taiwan stocks wouldn’t I earn substantially more?
The US$-yen exchange rate has a direct impact on the US$-NT$ exchange rate. When the yen rises or falls to any significant degree against the US$, so does the NT$ – not to exactly the same extent, but roughly in line with it.
Then you might consider looking into other currencies; Omni makes a valid point about the outlook for the USD on a broader scope. But, as Omni also intimates, currency speculation is not without some risk.
Good luck,
CK
You’d be more likely to lose than gain, if you’re calculating in terms of end value in NT$.
You can make quite handsome returns from playing the currency markets, but it can also be quite risky. I’ve never done it seriously, just casually converted between currencies now and again when there’s been an obvious opportunity for making a profit, and I’ve earned a few hundred thousand NT$ from doing so. For example, I converted a couple of million NT$ to euros when the euro was at its lowest level (about NT$27 to the euro) and was obviously grossly undervalued. I made a good profit when I converted back to NT$ in the mid 30s, but could have made even more if I’d hung on a bit longer. I’ve also made decent profits from buying and selling pounds and US$. Right now, I don’t see any great opportunities for profitable transactions, as the NT$ is more likely than not to strengthen against most major currencies in the near future. I am a little tempted to buy some yen or HK$, but neither is as sure a bet for yielding a profit as those others were.
Isnt the USD on its way to getting stronger against all currencies as evidenced by todays action in currency mkts after last nights rate news? As interest rates rise later this year, the dollar should recover.