Residential Construction Starts Reach 65,364 Units in First Three Quarters, Down 32% from the Same Period in 2025
Residential construction starts and building permits in the first three quarters of 2026 were both lower than the same period in 2025. Sinyi Realty experts say developers have slowed land purchases and project launches.
- Sinyi Realty compiled the Ministry of the Interior's monthly reports: residential construction starts in the first three quarters of 2026 totaled 65,364 units, down 32% year on year.
- Residential building permits issued in the first three quarters of 2026 totaled 78,438 units, lower than the 108,647 units in the same period of 2025.
- Sinyi Realty experts say developers are currently focusing on clearing unsold inventory and recovering funds, and project launches have clearly slowed.
Construction starts in the same period of 2025 were 95,799 units. Sinyi Realty observes that in the first three quarters of 2023 through 2025, annual starts ranged between 94,000 and 99,000 units each year, and the 65,364 units in 2026 have fallen below that range.
On building permits, Sinyi Realty says that in the same period over the previous three years, developers applied for permits at close to 110,000 units each year, while in the first three quarters of 2026 the figure dropped to 78,000 units.
Tseng Ching-te, project manager at the Sinyi Realty Real Estate Research Office, said the Central Bank's seventh round of property controls took effect in the third quarter of 2024, and the presale market shrank noticeably as a result. By 2025, transactions had nearly stalled, and the number of presale projects disclosed fell by about 70% from the previous year. Developers also did not rush to buy land or launch projects.
Tseng said this kind of decline is common in phases of economic correction, when developers usually first complete their existing presale projects and recover funds, and that mid-to-large developers have also been through economic cycles before. He believes the reduced supply will, over the long term, help supply and demand return to a healthy state, while in the short term the market will remain driven mainly by owner-occupiers.
People looking to buy presale homes or new developments should note that developers are currently focused mainly on clearing unsold inventory and recovering funds. Tseng says whether a unit can sell smoothly depends on the individual project's conditions, payment terms, and price. When viewing homes, you can compare these three factors project by project.
Quick quiz
2 questions; pick an answer to see the explanation
- How many residential units were started nationwide in the first three quarters of 2026?
- According to Tseng Ching-te, by how much did the number of presale projects disclosed in 2025 fall from the previous year?
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Original：ETtoday 房產雲 · We only post summaries and key points. Read the original for the full story.
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