Taiwan's commercial market tipped to surge in Q4

[TAIPEI] Commercial real estate and land deals in Taiwan will probably surge in the fourth quarter after the government lifted some restrictions on insurers' property investment, according to the world's two biggest commercial realtors.

Investments in offices and shops on the island will rise to as much as NT$40 billion (S$1.7 billion) in the next three months, Tony Chao, Taipei-based managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc, said in an interview on Tuesday. That compares with NT$24.2 billion in transactions in the third quarter, according to CBRE Group Inc.

The Financial Supervisory Commission in August lifted some restrictions including the ban on buying commercial real estate by insurers with financial irregularities. It kept some of the measures implemented last November to control office prices, including asking insurance companies to avoid investing in properties with an annual yield below 2.875 per cent.