The nation’s five major state-run banks extended NT$121.739 billion (US$3.80 billion) in new mortgages last month, the highest amount on record and surpassing the NT$100 billion mark for the third consecutive month, central bank data released yesterday showed.
Total new mortgages extended by the Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) and First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) last month increased by NT$20.518 billion, or 20.27 percent, from NT$101.221 billion the previous month, central bank data showed.
The monthly increase in new mortgages came as most home buyers tend to strike deals ahead of Ghost Month on the lunar calendar, which began on Aug. 4, resulting in a significant increase in property transactions and housing loans last month, the central bank said.
Photo: CNA
Housing transactions in the six special municipalities last month totaled 26,555 units, a 33.6 percent increase from a year earlier and marking the highest July figure since 2014, data released by local governments earlier this month showed.
In addition, the average mortgage rate charged by the five state-run banks rose 0.003 basis points to 2.187 percent last month from 2.184 percent the previous month, mainly because some banks raised rates for non-first-time home buyers, the central bank said.
The data also showed that preferential loans for first-home buyers under a government program contributed 38.23 percent of the total new mortgages last month, down 2.69 basis points from the previous month, despite that the amount increased from NT$41.42 billion to NT$46.54 billion.
The program has more flexible conditions for loan applications, offers favorable lending terms and sets a lower barrier for young people than a previous similar scheme.
However, it has also drawn wide criticism for rekindling a hot housing market in Taiwan this year.
During the first seven months of this year, the five state-run banks extended NT$672.99 billion of new mortgages, a record for the period and up 84.34 percent from NT$365.08 billion a year earlier, the data showed.
The latest data came after the central bank on Wednesday announced that domestic lenders must come up with self-disciplinary measures by Sept. 6 to limit mortgage operations and prevent an overconcentration of real-estate loans.
It is part of the monetary policymaker’s efforts to cool the housing market after it introduced a new round of credit-control measures last month, as well as hiked lenders’ required reserve ratio by 25 basis points and tightened second-home mortgage terms in June.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance and state-run lenders have also taken actions recently to crack down on abuses of the favorable loan terms intended for first-time home buyers and self-occupancy.
Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewelry shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned. A souring of Tokyo-Beijing relations this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, has fueled concerns about the impact on the ritzy boutiques, noodle joints and hotels where holidaymakers spend their cash. However, businesses in Tokyo largely shrugged off any anxiety. “Since there are fewer Chinese customers, it’s become a bit easier for Japanese shoppers to visit, so our sales haven’t really dropped,” Ito
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) and the company’s former chairman, Mark Liu (劉德音), both received the Robert N. Noyce Award -- the semiconductor industry’s highest honor -- in San Jose, California, on Thursday (local time). Speaking at the award event, Liu, who retired last year, expressed gratitude to his wife, his dissertation advisor at the University of California, Berkeley, his supervisors at AT&T Bell Laboratories -- where he worked on optical fiber communication systems before joining TSMC, TSMC partners, and industry colleagues. Liu said that working alongside TSMC
TECHNOLOGY DAY: The Taiwanese firm is also setting up a joint venture with Alphabet Inc on robots and plans to establish a firm in Japan to produce Model A EVs Manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday announced a collaboration with ChatGPT developer OpenAI to build next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and strengthen its local supply chain in the US to accelerate the deployment of advanced AI systems. Building such an infrastructure in the US is crucial for strengthening local supply chains and supporting the US in maintaining its leading position in the AI domain, Hon Hai said in a statement. Through the collaboration, OpenAI would share its insights into emerging hardware needs in the AI industry with Hon Hai to support the company’s design and development work, as well
RSS