Taking with a new guy at work yesterday. He told me he was looking to buy a place in Neihu and thinks they already fell 20% in price. Is convinced it will hold its value in the long term cos it’s Taipei City. I told him there’s no way I can buy there I can’t really afford 15 million ntd and the risk that goes with it. He just kept telling me I should buy there )maybe it’s a cultural thing and he thinks he’s saving me face by insisting I can afford t buy a house there).
What amazed me is I earn a lot more than he does but I just can’t afford a house in Taipei city proper and I still think they are awful value for what you get, 30 something ping old apartment most likely.
15 million bananas for a 30~ping apartment in Taipei? Holy cow, so glad my wife and I have not settled there.
In Xindian it is usually almost 1 million per ping. Big ads say get 12 ping apartment close to Tzu Chi Hospital for 9 million ntd. I am talking about a new one, those two levels kind of thing, where you cannot stand up on the second level, which is reserved for the “bedroom”, meaning a bed and a lamp and that’s it.
A 15 million for 30 ping apartment we are talking about a 35, 45 year old gongyu, probably in Ankeng or anywhere beyond Bitan.
In Xindian it is usually almost 1 million per ping. Big ads say get 12 ping apartment close to Tzu Chi Hospital for 9 million ntd. I am talking about a new one, those two levels kind of thing, where you cannot stand up on the second level, which is reserved for the “bedroom”, meaning a bed and a lamp and that’s it.
A 15 million for 30 ping apartment we are talking about a 35, 45 year old gongyu, probably in Ankeng or anywhere beyond Bitan.[/quote]
That sounds scary x_x no wonder I know so many people who live in Yilan and work in Taipei. If I had no other choice, I’d also prefer the 1hr+ commute to Taipei rather than dealing with that house pricing.
Problem is Yilan is also inflated as people buy “farms” and houses as investments. The malaise has also touched them.
It varies from area to area. The south and south-west parts of Yilan (Dong Shan, San Shin) have the problem that you just mentioned because they’re close to Plum Blossom lake, waterfalls and leisure farms, so many people buy land or property and turn it into a B&B or some sort of restaurant/accommodation. The northern part is also very expensive due to all the tourists going to the hot springs in Jiao Xi or Tou Cheng.
The most southern bit (Su Ao, Nan Fang Ao) has really cheap homes and apartments, mainly because the weather is the worst of the whole region and there are not many job opportunities, so commuting to the rest of the region is almost a must.
Zhuang Wei is between Yilan city and the sea, mostly farms and rice fields, pretty low estate prices (ZHUANG WEI NUMBER ONE).
Yes actually 15 million is probably an underestimate for Neihu which can get ridiculously expensive. I just don’t get people telling me I can afford to buy something when I can’t afford to buy something? 
I like the idea of commuting in from Ilan also, could do a four day work week in the office and avoid the traffic Friday. Getting to the airport could be painful though. That’s why for me something like Linkou or Sanxia might make more sense, although Ilan is nicer.
My fairly nice rented apartment in Xindian (well 20 year old da Lou with security and view) on a street with dodgy pavements, mechanic shops and bian dang restaurants around the corner is probably 20 million+ and some apartments are definitely 30 million ntd. The neighbors are so asset rich income poor they won’t even pay for a proper security system and lock on the gates. They keep replacing it with the cheapest lock available and no access control on the elevator cos it would cost money.
The real estate market here is so ridiculously overpriced, yet people still think its good value. The very first time i came here bit over 2 years ago i looked at those prices in those real estate agencies, so i walked in and asked them to convert that price to €. Well needless to say i thought they must have made an error in conversion considering the numbers they came up with. Ive been through a couple places here now, from high to low and i have to say, the living quality they provide, at least in my eyes arent even close to the price they demand for that. Now take into account that the populations is actually declining, the wages are stuck here since forever, so this boom in prices is def. not a healthy one but driven by outside factors (aka cheap money around the globe). Once this trend comes to an end i wouldnt want to be anywhere near real estate/financing/construction here in Taiwan…
There’s a large amount of wealthy families in Taiwan and profitable companies, there’s millions of comfortably off civil and public servants, then there’s also a lot of people earning relative peanuts. It’s not easy to get heads round it.
But I think what props the whole thing up is the idea that Chinese will be increasingly allowed to invest or reside here. That’s hard to predict.
I heared the china argument in the past as well and its pretty much a fact where ever chinese money goes prices go up. But in the same time also go down if they turn away from a market. Question is how much anticipation is already priced into that. And then you have to consider the political and economic factors that going on in China right now. The crackdown on corruption, money laundering and recent measures against shady capital transfers coupled with a downturn in economic spending has put a dent into quite a few markets and hopes and made them adjust.
The thing is that for instance, the public and civil servants - goverment employees, teachers, etc- tend to marry same profession, and hence secure a very comfortable position. Their kids are very likely to inherit their positions, especially if politically connected, with better access to education -famous schools and scholarships. So the wealth tends to sray in this circle… Unless a wrench is thrown in the machinery, like they marry outside and must carry the no retirement funds no 18% savings boost partner, or lose their wealth and properties to scams or gambling offspring. At least as far as I can tell.
So we need to generate an offspring that will marry a public/civil servant and will take care of us when we grow old and tired. Can do la !
Problem is the age range: since 95, they have been losing privileges left and right.
So we’re too late to the party, damn.
Anyway, in my building 3 apartments have been sold within the last 6 months.
The government isn’t very serious about reducing house prices, they reduced the interest rate to rock bottom again. Not very clear what use that is.
About the interest rate cuts: They had to cut cause economic activity, as measured in exports, has collapsed over the last six months and Taiwan is technically in an economic recession. If this rate cut doesn’t spur exports - which I doubt it will - Taiwan might experience a full-blown economic depression - defined as a prolonged period of sub-par economic growth.
So when looking at the bigger macro picture, it would seem that Taiwan has made a turn for the worse and that these temporary “liquidity injections” will soon wear off, and exports - and with it economic growth - will continue to decline. That WILL not be good for housing prices and we might get our real estate correction we’ve all been talking about for years and years now in 2016-2017.
A little anecdote about the warped state of real estate: I was having a late lunch at a very tasty Cantonese place in the hood, where I have been going since I moved to Xindian -meaning they have been at the same place at least 15 years. There was one of those inquisitive really old amas doing the whole interrogation bit on the laoban and laoban niang -who, BTW, are Hong Kong immigrants, still speak Mandarin with that cute Cantonese accent.
Well, I was minding my own business -looking at my smartphone- when a little detail assaulted my ears: the lady boss revealed they are paying over 100 thousand NTD in rent each month. 
Now this is a hole in the wall -right on main street, truly, but…- only 5 tables, less than 20 ping, hole in the wall. Yes, it is right on main street, but Heaven’s I know places in Tianmu for restaurants -over 100 ping or so -go for 60 to 90 thousand. I have seen them, for Pete’s sake. I nearly chocked on my 4 treasures rice meal, which, BTW, is the most expensive item on the menu, at 95 NTD. Their specialty, braised chicken, is now on sale at 180 NTD, half a bird.
The lady boss says rent for a similar sized place is even more expensive in Hong Kong. :loco:
Now here’s the kicker: how do they manage to pay for this place: they work 15 hours each day. Their daughter helps them after school and buxiban.
Rents can be really high in traditional markets too, my wife heard one butcher saying their ‘table’ outside a shop cost something like 30k or 50k a month, I can’t remember the details but it was just a table and I remember being shocked by the price. You pay for market access in these places , going rate.
Yep. Renting the space for a day is over 2000 NTD at our market… which is not the most visited in Xindian, I assure you. 30k is a desk sized “table”. How much do you have to sell to pay that?! In the ol country at least they have alternative means of income drugs, but here?!
Maybe she said 100k to show off, to show how successful they are to be able to pay for such a rent? Wouldn’t surprise me if they actually pay half of that.