Builders and developers launched NT$204.3 billion (US$6.76 billion) worth of presale projects and new homes last quarter, up 29.5 percent increase from the same period last year as the market showed signs of a tenuous recovery, a survey by Cathay Real Estate Development Co (國泰建設) showed.

The figure also marked a 51.6 percent spike from three months earlier, thanks to a continued lenient monetary environment and favorable policy for urban renewal, the survey conducted by National Chengchi University’s Taiwan Real Estate Research Center showed.

“The second quarter saw new construction volume and housing prices pick up as the economy improved and borrowing costs remained low,” the quarterly survey said.

A total of 155 new home projects with 12,505 units entered the market nationwide during the April-to-June period, the survey found.

Mainstream products averaged NT$11.07 million per unit, lower than the previous survey, as developers focused on small and relatively affordable apartments and some cut asking prices to facilitate transactions.

The critical 30-day sales rate gained 2.04 percentage points to 10.77 percent, while price concessions narrowed to 16.72 percent, the survey indicated.

The volume increase is especially evident in New Taipei City, where presale projects and new homes for sale more than doubled to NT$85.1 billion, the survey found.

However, builders and developers trimmed asking prices in New Taipei City to between NT$450,000 and NT$600,000 per ping in the hope of spurring buying interest, the poll showed.

“Price corrections merit close monitoring if the market is heading toward a recovery or a downfall,” the survey said, though sales rate and price concessions all showed positive cyclical movements.

New home projects posted an average asking price of NT$819,900 per ping in Taipei, up 8 percent from three months earlier, the survey said.

Potential sales volume shrank by double-digit percentage in the capital compared with the previous survey, as developers were hesitant to launch new projects amid concern that unaffordability might constrain transactions, the survey said.

Developers introduced more projects in Taichung, Tainan and Taoyuan, but showed constraint in Kaohsiung, it said.

All indicators pointed upward in Taichung, but were mixed elsewhere. Sales rates dropped mildly in Tainan, but price concessions tapered off to 15.33 percent, the lowest among the major municipalities, the survey said.

Presale projects in Kaohsiung gained 4.08 percent in the average asking price to NT$190,200 per ping, but the 30-day sales rate weakened 0.69 percent, the survey said.