The central bank on Friday invited major local banks that handle mortgages to discuss issues such as the real-estate business outlook and credit risk controls for house and land purchases.
The initiative comes at a time when increased property speculation has raised eyebrows and various ministries are drafting new policies to curb speculative investment in real estate.
During the meeting, the central bank urged lenders to strictly review loan conditions, improve risk control, monitor the use of funds and enhance post-loan management. It also said that it would continue to pay attention to the real-estate market and banks’ credit risk, as the sound development of the property market is closely related to the nation’s financial stability — a message that suggested that the central bank might discuss whether to offer selective credit controls at its next quarterly policymaking meeting at the earliest.
Taiwan’s real-estate market has since June been gradually recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to the nation’s effective control of the outbreak, a low interest rate environment and high market liquidity.
Even though it remains uncertain whether the market will boom in the near term, there is no doubt that housing prices in major cities are already so high that housing is one of the major issues that young people face, in addition to low wages and a bleak future.
Over the past few decades, the government has adopted numerous housing and tax reforms to slow the increase of real-estate prices, as policymakers recognized that the rise in prices might pose a problem not just for young people, but also for the nation’s long-term economic development and competitiveness.
However, the problem, first highlighted by the landmark Snails Without Shells movement in 1989, has never been solved. Ironically, despite the nation’s declining birthrate, developers and builders still continue to launch new housing projects, which has caused the number of vacant houses to rise.
However, should housing prices not have started to decline long ago if they were subject to the laws of supply and demand? To those who call on the government to respect the mechanism of the free market, skeptical of any government intervention, how are the persistently rising housing prices and the increasing number of construction projects reasonable?
People in Taiwan know that it is important to establish a healthy housing market, develop a sound rental market and provide more public housing to address the issue. The problem is that property owners generally do not want the government to regulate the rental market, and most people do not welcome any plans to build public housing in their neighborhood.
On the other hand, public land in urban areas is becoming increasingly scarce, making plots for public housing development difficult to find.
Past housing and tax reform measures have proved ineffective, and, in some cases, have generated adverse effects or encouraged tax evasion.
Regardless of what actions the government might take to deal with the issue, every move, including the central bank’s meeting with major mortgage operators, reflects the urgency and severity of the problem.
It also brings to light a persistent social discontent that keeps pushing policymakers to act.
If the government cannot make everyone rich enough to buy a home, it should at least work toward building a society in which resources are distributed more evenly.
The government should make efforts to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas, allowing everyone to enjoy the same convenience no matter where they live, and encourage people to pursue careers in their hometowns instead of moving to the big cities — measures that could offer an alternative to addressing the nation’s housing issue.
On Monday, the day before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) departed on her visit to China, the party released a promotional video titled “Only with peace can we ‘lie flat’” to highlight its desire to have peace across the Taiwan Strait. However, its use of the expression “lie flat” (tang ping, 躺平) drew sarcastic comments, with critics saying it sounded as if the party was “bowing down” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Amid the controversy over the opposition parties blocking proposed defense budgets, Cheng departed for China after receiving an invitation from the CCP, with a meeting with
In the event of a war with China, Taiwan has some surprisingly tough defenses that could make it as difficult to tackle as a porcupine: A shoreline dotted with swamps, rocks and concrete barriers; conscription for all adult men; highways and airports that are built to double as hardened combat facilities. This porcupine has a soft underbelly, though, and the war in Iran is exposing it: energy. About 39,000 ships dock at Taiwan’s ports each year, more than the 30,000 that transit the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of their inbound tonnage is coal, oil, refined fuels and liquefied natural gas (LNG),
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is leading a delegation to China through Sunday. She is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing tomorrow. That date coincides with the anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which marked a cornerstone of Taiwan-US relations. Staging their meeting on this date makes it clear that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intends to challenge the US and demonstrate its “authority” over Taiwan. Since the US severed official diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, it has relied on the TRA as a legal basis for all
Taiwan ranks second globally in terms of share of population with a higher-education degree, with about 60 percent of Taiwanese holding a post-secondary or graduate degree, a survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showed. The findings are consistent with Ministry of the Interior data, which showed that as of the end of last year, 10.602 million Taiwanese had completed post-secondary education or higher. Among them, the number of women with graduate degrees was 786,000, an increase of 48.1 percent over the past decade and a faster rate of growth than among men. A highly educated population brings clear advantages.
RSS