Transactions of residential and commercial property in Taiwan last year plunged to a nine-year low, down more than 25 percent from a year earlier, due to a slew of selective credit controls in the home market launched by the central bank, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said on Saturday.
Transactions of homes, offices and shops stood at 261,308 units last year, down 25.5 percent from a year earlier and hit the lowest level since 2016, when sales stood at 245,396 units, data compiled by the ministry showed.
The ministry attributed the decline to the central bank’s selective credit controls in the home market, which had cooled down home buying and capped transactions last year.
Photo: CNA
The central bank slightly eased its credit controls in March, after it imposed a seventh round of selective credit control measures on the home market in September 2024 to rein in home prices, described as the strictest measures in history.
In the quarterly policymaking meeting on Thursday, the central bank left its selective credit controls unchanged.
According to the MOI, the number of property right transfer registrations reached 450,983 units last year, down 16.7 percent from a year earlier.
Sales of residential and commercial property accounted for around 57.9 percent of the transfer registrations in the year, down from 64.7 percent a year earlier, with transfers through heritage making up 17.4 percent, up from 14.0 percent in 2024, ministry data indicated.
The number of first-time property registrations, referring to the registrations of newly built property, hit a new high of 176,690 units in 10 years last year on the back of an increase in construction permits issued and home construction starts, the ministry said.
Taoyuan reported the highest first-time property registrations of 30,595 units last year, ahead of Taichung at 30,077 units and New Taipei City at 25,348 units, the data found.
The nation’s six special municipalities — Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung — represented 77 percent of the first-time property registrations in the year, the ministry said.
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