Housing transactions would likely hold steady or grow mildly next year, from an estimated 7 percent gain this year, as excessive liquidity and economic recovery would continue to lend support, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) said, but added that credit controls would likely slow the advance.
The number of transactions approximated 291,194 from January to last month and would total 322,000 to 324,000 units for the whole of this year, representing an annual increase of 7.1 percent, Evertrust general manager Yeh Ling-chi (葉凌棋) said, citing an internal survey.
The volume could hit 325,000 to 350,000 next year, suggesting a flat showing to a rise of up to 3 percent, as tightening measures would mildly discourage developers and builders, Yeh told a news conference in Taipei on Thursday.
“While continued low interest rates and excessive liquidity are favorable for the property market, tightened loan-to-value ratios would drive property investors and speculators to the sidelines,” he said.
The central bank’s credit controls, aimed at lowering lending for home purchases by companies and multiple home owners, unsold houses and land financing from 80 percent to 50 to 65 percent would be prudent and effective, Yeh said.
Additionally, the Ministry of Interior has banned transfers of unlicensed presale housing projects and the Financial Supervisory Commission has stepped up inspections of real-estate lending, he added.
All the measures are intended to curb property investment or speculation and would not affect first-home purchases or urban renewal projects, Yeh said.
Property investment, fueled by monetary easing to mitigate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, would have to produce more capital, Yeh said, adding that in the past few years, individuals have created shell companies to dodge heavy taxes on property gains.
Easy loans and low borrowing costs have driven developers to acquire land plots and launch new projects using land and unsold houses as collateral, Yeh said, adding that the practices could lead to a supply glut and subsequently to heavy selling pressure, if left unchecked.
Housing prices have this year climbed to record highs in most parts of Taiwan, especially in Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Taichung, although some areas fail to report companies returning from China, Yeh said.
The stricter measures mean that developers would have to try to sell finished but unsold houses first, now that their access to capital is significantly limited, Yeh said.
That would slow the recovery in the real-estate market, but support its long-term health, Yeh said.
A proposed 100 percent tariff on chip imports announced by US President Donald Trump could shift more of Taiwan’s semiconductor production overseas, a Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) researcher said yesterday. Trump’s tariff policy will accelerate the global semiconductor industry’s pace to establish roots in the US, leading to higher supply chain costs and ultimately raising prices of consumer electronics and creating uncertainty for future market demand, Arisa Liu (劉佩真) at the institute’s Taiwan Industry Economics Database said in a telephone interview. Trump’s move signals his intention to "restore the glory of the US semiconductor industry," Liu noted, saying that
On Ireland’s blustery western seaboard, researchers are gleefully flying giant kites — not for fun, but in the hope of generating renewable electricity and sparking a “revolution” in wind energy. “We use a kite to capture the wind and a generator at the bottom of it that captures the power,” said Padraic Doherty of Kitepower, the Dutch firm behind the venture. At its test site in operation since September 2023 near the small town of Bangor Erris, the team transports the vast 60-square-meter kite from a hangar across the lunar-like bogland to a generator. The kite is then attached by a
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
RSS