Housing transactions in January and last month gained 18 percent from a year earlier in the six special municipalities as real demand continued to support the property market, despite unfavorable policy proposals, real-estate brokers said on Tuesday.
Property transactions in the first two months of the year totaled 39,581 units, an 18 percent increase from 33,540 in the same period last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic weakened house hunting.
“The figures suggest that the central bank’s selective credit controls have had limited impact on housing transactions and policymakers might introduce further measures to cool the market,” Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) research manager Tseng Ching-der (曾敬德) said.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
Housing deals advanced by 12 to 27 percent in New Taipei City, Taichung, Taipei, Taoyuan and Kaohsiung, while the pace of increase was 5 percent in Tainan, data from the city governments showed.
Transactions last year exceeded 320,000 units, the level widely described as necessary for a solid recovery.
Low interest rates and excessive liquidity more than offset concerns over credit controls that cap loan-to-value ratios from 80 percent to a range of between 55 percent and 65 percent for corporate and multiple-home buyers, as well as for unsold houses and land financing, Tseng said.
Urban renewal projects and first-home buyers are not subjected to the restrictions.
Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) spokesman Jay Hsieh (謝志傑) said that loose monetary policies would lend support to the property market, boosting real-estate and financial asset prices.
Surveys show that real-estate is the most popular choice among Taiwanese as a guard against inflation and market volatility.
The Ministry of Finance has said that property tax revisions are its top priority for this legislative session.
The ministry has proposed loosening the definition of short-term property transactions from the two years to five years after purchase to help rein in price hikes.
Currently, property sales within one year of the purchase date are subjected a 45 percent tax and the rate is 35 percent for sales within two years of purchase.
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