The government’s move to curb speculation in the housing market and the US Federal Reserve’s plan to taper its quantitative easing measures might make more home buyers and construction firms adopt a wait-and-see attitude toward the property market, the central bank said yesterday.
The bank made the remarks after it unveiled the latest data of new housing loans granted by the nation’s five leading banks, which totaled NT$44.35 billion (US$1.46 billion) last month, a significant increase of NT$13.06 billion from a month earlier.
The five major banks — Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南商業銀行) and First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) — grant about 40 percent of housing loans in the market.
“The result was mainly driven by a lower comparison basis in February, as the Lunar New Year holiday dragged down trading momentum in the property market,” Chen E-dawn (陳一端), deputy head of the economic research department, told a press conference.
In terms of interest rates, the average rate on new housing loans by the five banks dropped to 1.967 percent last month from 1.97 percent in February, mainly due to an increase of the preferential home mortgages applied by first-time buyers last month, the bank’s data showed.
Chen said the central bank expects the housing market to remain flat in the near future in a positive way, as more buyers and sellers in the market might adopt a wait-and see attitude, easing speculative transactions.
The bank will also remain cautious on development of the interest rates in a bid to improve credit control in the property market, she added.
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