Amid public calls for government action to rein in soaring real estate prices, the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) has hammered out a draft scheme with measures to let some of the air out of the local property market, the council said in a statement.
The proposed draft will soon be referred to the Cabinet for approval, the council said, adding that the government has addressed the issue of sharp hikes in home prices in metropolitan areas and will strive to help salaried workers purchase homes.
“Rising property prices have increased the financial burden on the public. For instance, the house price-to-income ratio in Taipei averages 9.06 percent while an average mortgage loan takes up about 36.12 percent of a household’s monthly income,” the CEPD said.
Blaming rocketing housing prices chiefly on lackluster demand, the council proposed increasing the supply of housing in metropolitan areas by building more affordable homes as well as offering subsidies to workers who wish to purchase.
However, Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨), spokeswoman for real-estate broker HB Housing (住商不動產), disagreed.
Hsu told the Taipei Times by telephone that the government’s plan to build 4,000 “average-priced” residential units near Linkou (林口) in Taipei County was the product of “political considerations.”
“Taipei City currently has a shortfall of 20,000 residential houses. Building 4,000 houses in Taipei County will not effectively resolve the current imbalance of supply and demand,” Hsu said.
“Lower-priced public housing will impact regional property prices instead as people might choose to buy new houses over second-old houses for sale in the area,” she said.
Last week, the “Snails Without-Shells Alliance,” an organization of non-homeowners, called on the government to provide public housing “for rent rather than sale” in order to curb soaring real estate prices throughout Taiwan.
In response, council Vice Chairman Hu Chung-ying (胡仲英) said such a proposal is not “in line with national conditions” as most of the public prefer owning a home to renting. However, after considering excess demand for housing among the young, the government will not rule out the possibility of more moves to encourage renting.
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