Taiwan’s major property brokers yesterday reported a mild increase in housing deals this month, attributable mainly to the government’s introduction of preferential lending terms for first-home purchases.
Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), Taiwan’s only listed broker, said the housing market’s performance this month was similar to July and last month, but gained 10 percent by volume compared with last year.
Singyi research manager Tseng Ching-der (曾敬德) attributed the year-on-year pickup to a low base last year.
Photo: CNA
“The third quarter proved not bad this time around, supported by real demand,” Tseng said, adding that people responded positively to the government’s introduction of ultra-low interest rates of 1.775 percent for first-home purchases.
The favorable lending terms also include a five-year grace period, a loan cap of NT$10 million (US$309,904) and mortgage periods of up to 30 years, significantly lowering the threshold for home ownership, Tseng said.
Specifically, houses priced from NT$10 million to NT$15 million gained noticeable popularity, accounting for 25 percent of deals, the analyst said.
Apartments valued between NT$30 million and NT$50 million in Taipei were also well received, whereas houses of NT$10 million to NT$20 million were the mainstream in New Taipei City, Tseng said.
Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋), Taiwan’s largest broker by number of offices, said it observed a small increase in housing deals across Taiwan, as people grew accustomed to policy measures the government adopted to cool the market.
The absence of new credit controls made by the central bank on Thursday last week allowed people to breathe a sigh of relief and speed up purchasing plans, Evertrust Rehouse deputy research head Chen Chin-ping (陳金萍) said.
People with relocation and asset allocation needs also took action after housing prices failed to show corrections for several quarters, Chen said.
H&B Realty Co (住商不動產), the nation’s top broker by number of franchises, said the market displayed better visibility compared with the two previous months and preferential lending terms played an encouraging role.
This was most evident for the two-bedroom apartments in northern and southern Taiwan, H&B Realty research chief Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨) said, adding that offices with rental prospects also received close attention.
Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) said it did not detect cautious sentiment thus far, though the presidential and legislative elections are drawing near.
It is too early to conclude that political uncertainty does not matter at this time, Great Home head researcher Mandy Lang (郎美囡) said.
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