Housing and construction loans rose to their highest levels at the end of last month at NT$8.1 trillion (US$283.2 billion) and NT$2.83 trillion respectively, but their rate of increase slowed after the central bank tightened credit controls, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said on Thursday.
Housing loans rose 0.3 percent, or NT$25.3 billion, from NT$8.08 trillion at the end of January, easing from a monthly growth of 0.7 percent in January and marking the smallest increase since August last year, commission data showed.
Construction loans, an indicator of real-estate developers’ confidence in the sector, also grew at a slower pace last month with monthly rise of NT$18.1 billion, or 0.6 percent, compared with a monthly growth of NT$40.7 billion in January, the data showed.
Continuing rises in mortgage and constructions loans have prompted some people question whether the central bank’s selective credit controls have effectively curbed the overheating property market since they took effect on Dec. 8 last year.
“Mortgage and construction loans rising at a slower rate suggests that the tightened credit controls have affected lending momentum,” FSC Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Lin Chih-chi (林志吉) told a news conference in New Taipei City.
“However, it will take time before we see a drop in mortgage and construction loans, as some banks have contracts with real-estate developers with set lending goals. If the banks stick to the contracts, they will not refrain from offering new loans in the short term,” Lin said.
The central bank further tightened its credit controls on Friday last week, which might curb growth in mortgage and construction loans, the commission said.
The credit controls do not affect first-time home buyers, but they affect corporate and individual property investors, and highly leveraged borrowers by lowering the loan-to-value limit to 40 percent for all corporate buyers and 55 percent for multiple-home owners.
Some lenders, such as CTBC Bank (中信銀行), have told investors that the tightened credit measures would have a limited impact on its mortgage business, as the majority of their customers own one home.
Nonperforming housing loans totaled NT$9.8 billion at the end of last month, up from NT$9.7 billion a month earlier, while the nonperforming loan ratio remained flat at 0.12 percent, FSC data showed.
Nonperforming construction loans rose from NT$4.1 billion a month earlier to NT$4.2 billion at the end of last month, while the nonperforming loan ratio was flat at 0.15 percent, the data showed.
Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high yesterday, the first trading day of the new year, as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) continued to break records amid an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 386.21 points, or 1.33 percent, at 29,349.81, with turnover totaling NT$648.844 billion (US$20.65 billion). “Judging from a stronger Taiwan dollar against the US dollar, I think foreign institutional investors returned from the holidays and brought funds into the local market,” Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺) said. “Foreign investors just rebuilt their positions with TSMC as their top target,
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
US President Donald Trump on Friday blocked US photonics firm HieFo Corp’s US$3 million acquisition of assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore Corp, citing national security and China-related concerns. In an order released by the White House, Trump said HieFo was “controlled by a citizen of the People’s Republic of China” and that its 2024 acquisition of Emcore’s businesses led the US president to believe that it might “take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” The order did not name the person or detail Trump’s concerns. “The Transaction is hereby prohibited,”
Garment maker Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of NT$7.93 billion (US$251.44 million), down 9.48 percent from NT$8.76 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, revenue fell 10.83 percent from NT$8.89 billion, company data showed. The figure was also lower than market expectations of NT$8.05 billion, according to data compiled by Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧), which had projected NT$8.22 billion. Makalot’s revenue this quarter would likely increase by a mid-teens percentage as the industry is entering its high season, Yuanta said. Overall, Makalot’s revenue last year totaled NT$34.43 billion, down 3.08 percent from its record NT$35.52
RSS