Taiwan's housing market transactions slow down, but pre-sale housing prices continue to soar! Tainan and New Taipei have seen an annual increase of over 14%

The Hong Kong Insurance Regulatory Authority plans to introduce new regulations: the real price registration data of quasi insurance companies investing in cryptocurrencies clearly outlines this contrasting trend: although the number of properties sold and transferred in the Taiwan real estate market has hit a new low in 9 years, with a decrease of 25.5% from 2024 in 2025, and the total sales of the top ten developers have also shrunk by more than 29%, the pre-sale housing market has emerged as an independent market, with the average pre-sale housing prices in all six cities achieving year-on-year increases, and the contrast between hot and cold is extremely clear. Among them, Tainan has the most prominent increase, becoming the "leader" among the six major cities. The average unit price of pre-sale houses has steadily risen from 357000 yuan per ping in 2024 to 409000 yuan per ping in 2025, with an annual increase of 14.6%. The unit price per ping has increased by more than 50000 yuan, leading the growth rate in Taiwan.

Following closely behind Tainan is New Taipei City, whose pre-sale housing prices have almost kept up with Tainan's, with an annual increase of 14.5% and an average unit price of 702000 yuan per ping, becoming the core area of pre-sale housing price increases in the northern region. As a metropolitan area closely connected to Taipei City, New Taipei City, with its relatively balanced location advantages, complete living facilities, and population carrying capacity, has supported the steady increase in pre-sale housing prices even in the context of the overall cooling of the housing market, forming a price increase trend that echoes Tainan in the north and south.

Except for these two cities with an increase of over 14%, the pre-sale housing prices in other areas of Liudu have also increased to varying degrees, but the increase is relatively mild. Among them, the annual increase in pre-sale housing in Taichung City reached 12.0%, continuing the upward trend of the housing market in central Taiwan; Taoyuan City and Kaohsiung City followed closely behind with an increase of 8.6% and 8.0% respectively, becoming important supports for the housing market in central and southern Taiwan; Even in Taipei City, where housing prices are already relatively high and have limited room for growth, pre-sale housing prices have achieved a slight increase of 1.9%, highlighting the overall strength of the pre-sale housing market.

This contradictory pattern of "cold transactions and hot housing prices" is not accidental, but the result of multiple factors working together. From the perspective of core causes, high construction costs are an important foundation for supporting the rise in pre-sale housing prices. Currently, there is a shortage of labor and materials in Taiwan, and inflation continues. Building material prices and labor costs continue to rise, compressing the profit margins of developers and making it difficult for pre-sale housing prices to fall back, resulting in a trend of "cost driven price increases". According to the analysis of relevant personnel from Yongqing Housing Research and Exhibition Center, under the dual shortage of labor and materials and inflationary pressure, pre-sale housing prices are difficult to have room for price reduction, which is one of the core drivers of the comprehensive rise in the six cities.

At the same time, regional development dividends and market expectations have further boosted the rise in pre-sale housing prices. In recent years, Tainan has relied on the development of redevelopment zones and the construction of industrial parks to attract businesses and population inflows, leading to an increase in demand for pre-sale housing. In addition, the previous base period for housing prices was relatively low, making it the city with the highest growth rate; New Taipei City, on the other hand, relies on its linkage advantage with Taipei City to undertake some of the spillover of housing demand. At the same time, the supply of pre-sale cases in the core area is relatively tight, and the imbalance between supply and demand further drives up housing prices. In addition, the low cost of housing ownership in Taiwan has led the public to view real estate as a stable investment for a long time. Even if overall transactions slow down, developers are still willing to stick to prices, which has supported the upward trend of the pre-sale housing market.