TAIPEI (TVBS News) — According to the Joint Credit Information Center (聯徵中心), the average mortgage loan for home purchases in Taiwan reached a record high of NT$9.705 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, marking an increase of NT$852,000 from the previous year.
This surge underscores the abundance of hot money in the domestic market and highlights the unresolved issue of soaring housing prices that the Lai Ching-te (賴清德) government must address.
Rising Mortgage Loans Reflect Unabated Housing Prices
Real estate agents have raised alarms over the continuous rise in mortgage amounts, pointing to the persistent problem of high housing prices.
Tseng Ching-der (曾敬德), a research manager at Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), noted that the implementation of the revised "The Equalization of Land Rights Act (平均地權條例)" in July 2023 curbed short-term speculative behavior effectively. However, the market quickly adapted to the policy changes, indicating that the government's efforts to cool down the housing market face significant challenges.
Government Measures and Market Adaptation
The Ministry of the Interior (內政部, MOI) reported that global housing prices have been influenced by overall economic growth and an abundance of market funds, leading to price increases worldwide.
Despite this, the government's initiatives to combat speculation have slightly decelerated housing price increases in Taiwan.
The average quarterly increase in the residential price index in 2023 was 1.66%, a decrease from the approximately 2.09% and 2.07% increases in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
The MOI has committed to closely monitoring housing price trends and collaborating with relevant departments to continuously evaluate and promote policies addressing market, financial, and tax aspects.
Tseng emphasized that the complexity of high housing prices, coupled with abundant domestic liquidity, inflation, and public expectations of future price increases, suggests that there is still room for improvement in current housing market policies.