Soaring housing prices in Taiwan are pushing developers to prioritize smaller two-bedroom units that better fit buyers’ budgets, even as larger three-bedroom apartments remain the preferred, but increasingly unattainable choice, Evertrust Rehouse Co said yesterday.
The median price for a three-bedroom apartment in Taipei has surged to NT$36.52 million (US$1.19 million), about NT$20 million in Hsinchu County, and slightly above NT$10 million in Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the broker said.
Citing Bureau of Labor Insurance data, Evertrust said mortgage burdens for three-bedroom apartments across the six special municipalities place households under heavy financial pressure, with monthly payments often far exceeding average wages.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
For example, in Taipei, the mortgage-to-income ratio stands at 181 percent, meaning monthly repayments are nearly 1.8 times the city’s average salary. This assumes a 70 percent loan-to-value ratio, a 30-year repayment term and an interest rate of 2.303 percent, Evertrust said.
New Taipei ranks second with a mortgage-to-income ratio of 112.1 percent, followed by Hsinchu County at 108.9 percent.
“Taipei, as Taiwan’s political and economic center, attracts a large inflow of workers from other regions, fueling strong housing demand and driving prices to the highest nationwide,” Evertrust deputy researcher head Chen Chin-ping (陳金萍) said.
Being priced out of larger apartments has fueled both the construction of smaller units and the so-called “move out of Taipei” trend in the past few years, Chen said.
Hsinchu has also become a hotspot, driven by demand from high-earning tech workers at the Hsinchu Science Park, with limited housing supply accelerating price growth, she said.
The burden varies significantly between Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City, Evertrust said.
While the county’s mortgage-to-income ratio reaches 108.9 percent, the city’s ratio is only 63.4 percent, reflecting higher average salaries, Chen said.
In southern Taiwan, Tainan and Kaohsiung remain the most affordable among the seven major metropolitan areas, with median home prices of NT$10.88 million and NT$11.67 million.
Monthly mortgage payments average about NT$30,000 in both cities, equal to 72.2 percent and 75.6 percent of local residents’ wages respectively, Evertrust said.
Still, both cities have experienced rapid price gains over the past few years, powered by the expansion of the Southern Taiwan Science Park and new facilities opened by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s largest supplier of advanced chips.
Chen urged prospective buyers to assess their financial position carefully before committing to a purchase.
“If the mortgage-to-income ratio is too high, most of the monthly salary will go to housing loans, inevitably squeezing living quality and undermining long-term financial planning,” she said.
Buyers should avoid excessive leverage and set aside emergency funds to guard against risks such as interest rate hikes, she added.
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