The Ministry of the Interior on Dec. 9 said it is seeking to amend the Equalization of Land Right Act (平均地權條例) and Real Estate Broking Management Act (不動產經紀業管理條例) to restrict property presales and transfers of presale contracts.
It would add stiffer punishments, with a maximum penalty of three years in prison or a fine of NT$50 million (US$1.81 million), to curb market speculation. Housing purchases would require a permit, transfers within five years of the original purchase would be prohibited, and a whistle-blower mechanism would be set up, the ministry said.
The measures, aimed at cooling the housing market, show that an integrated housing and land tax revision in July has done little to curb real-estate speculation, with major indicators showing how hot the real-estate market remains.
Property deals are to reach a six-year high this year. In 2016, 245,396 properties were transferred, the lowest since 2001, before the figure started climbing again to 326,589 last year. As of October, this year’s count was 279,039, and the total is expected to exceed that of last year.
Ministry data in October showed that there were 7,761 real-estate agents in Taiwan, up by 1,049 from the 6,712 in January last year.
Loans for property purchases and construction also reached new highs. In October, housing loans reached NT$8.62 trillion, and construction loans hit a record NT$2.73 trillion, leading to a significant increase in systemic risks in the financial system.
The ministry says that a housing price affordability rate of less than 30 percent means that mortgages are reasonably affordable. In the second quarter, Taiwan’s rate was 36.27 percent, and it was lower than 30 percent only in Keelung, Chiayi and Hsinchu cities, as well as Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung counties, where 3.07 million people live, or 13 percent of the nation’s population of 23.41 million.
According to a ministry estimate, 87 percent of Taiwanese would find it difficult to pay off their mortgage.
There is a serious housing surplus, although supply continues to increase. Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics data showed that there were 166,000 vacant units in Taiwan last year, capable of housing 4.8 million people.
However, the number of new residential projects has been overwhelming this year, and the number of transferred properties has also increased. In other words, many people are buying property not as their primary place of residence, but as an investment or for resale, driving prices further up and making it difficult for low and middle-income earners to buy a home.
The agency estimates that Taiwan’s gross national income per capita would reach US$30,000 this year, but real-estate speculation has widened the wealth divide. Wealth is passed on, and so is poverty.
The government is responsible for creating a “stable, normal, safe and predictable life” for the populace. Housing is a fundamental human right and should not become an object of speculation, saddling people with a mortgage they can barely afford.
The government must solve the housing problem; it is not something the interior ministry can do alone. The central bank should also take more measures to tighten the mortgage percentage, increase mortgage interest rates and tighten construction financing, and the Ministry of Finance should reintroduce a housing tax and revise the law to increase it, with the goal of increasing the cost of holding property as an investment.
Curbing real-estate speculation can only be achieved through inter-ministerial efforts.
Wang Juei-hsing is a former head of the Taiwan Provincial Government’s Land Development Division.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
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