Consumer loans continued to rise last month, led mainly by mortgages and construction loans, monthly statistics from the central bank showed.
The central bank includes loans for housing, home renovation, construction, vehicles and labor welfare, as well as revolving credit for credit cards in its definition of consumer loans.
Figures released by the bank on Tuesday last week showed that consumer loans reached a record NT$8.093 trillion (US$264.55 billion), up NT$37 billion from the previous month.
Last month’s figures were NT$319 billion, or 4.1 percent more than the NT$7.774 trillion a year earlier, suggesting that economic recovery remains solid.
The latest data indicated that the property market is on track for recovery, as housing loans rose for a 16th straight month to a record NT$6.784 trillion last month, up NT$33 billion, or 0.49 percent, from the previous month.
Compared with the same period a year earlier, housing loans grew NT$301 billion, or 4.64 percent, with outstanding mortgages with preferential interest rates for first-time home buyers at NT$644.2 billion at the end of last month, accounting for 9.5 percent of total housing loans, the central bank said.
The preferential loan program, which is executed by eight state-run banks, offers an interest rate of 1.44 percent for the first two years and 1.74 percent starting from the third year, with a repayment period of up to 30 years.
Meanwhile, construction loans, which are indicative of the construction sector’s attitude toward the market, grew for a fifth straight month to a record NT$1.773 trillion last month, up 1.08 percent month-on-month and 6.29 percent year-on-year, the central bank said.
The annual increase in construction loans also marked the highest expansion in the past 39 months, it said.
The positive outlook toward the property market was also indicated in the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research’s (台灣經濟研究院) latest survey of the sector — released on Friday last week — citing new home construction, rising demand from power plant renewal, as well as construction of public transportation and water treatment facilities.
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