The average length of loans to purchase residential properties in Taiwan hit a record high of 269 months, or about 22.4 years, first-quarter statistics from the Ministry of the Interior showed.
The average interest rate on new housing loans was 1.79 percent and the loan-to-value ratio averaged 62 percent, the data showed.
Among the six special municipalities, the longest loan terms were in Kaohsiung, with an average of 278 months, followed by 277 months in Tainan, 274 months in New Taipei City and 262 months in Taipei.
Although soaring home prices place a heavy burden on buyers, lower interest rates mean that some people are more willing to stretch out loan repayments to secure enough money to enjoy their daily lives, My Housing Monthly research manager Ho Shih-chang (何世昌) said.
Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨), head of the research department at real-estate agency H&B Business Group (住商不動產), said that in the past, high interest rates tended to encourage people to repay mortgages faster.
However, mortgage rates continue to set record lows, pushing down the cost of buying a home, and giving people more options to leverage their money in investments or maintain a high quality of life, Hsu said.
Ho said that the repayment terms are likely to increase unless mortgage rates spike or housing prices slump.
Hsu said that banks are expected to offer longer-term loans for relatively new residential properties in the short-term.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS