News
Housing prices up 9% in 1Q22
New government data shows that Taiwan's home prices are on the rise. The Ministry of the Interior says the Housing Price Index, which measures changes in residential property values, climbed to 121.01 in the first quarter of this year.
That's up almost 3% from the fourth quarter of 2021, and an increase of over 9% compared with the first quarter of last year.
The ministry says of the 6 special municipalities, Taichung and Kaohsiung cities saw the steepest rises between these periods.
The Housing Price Index in Taichung climbed 3.65%, while Kaohsiung climbed 7%. That's followed by Taoyuan City with 2.7% and Taipei City with 1.91%.
Interior Ministry officials say the central bank's loose monetary policy, along with continued low interest rates, contributed to the rise.
In other housing news, transactions involving residential and commercial property in the six largest cities in Taiwan fell almost 15% from a year earlier in June.
Local government statistics also indicated southern Taiwan suffered a much steeper year-on-year decline in June compared to other regions, with housing transactions in Tainan and Kaohsiung falling 31.2% and 20.0% year-on-year.
Real estate agencies attributed the decline to a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases, as well as a rate hike cycle which began in March.
They also say that credit controls imposed by the central bank will also affect property sales in the second half of this year.
