Housing in the nation is increasingly aging, with the average age of properties reaching 29.5 years in the first half of this year, raising concerns over the safety of older buildings, property brokers said.
As of June, there were 8.54 million properties in Taiwan, with an average age of 29.5 years, Ministry of the Interior statistics showed.
Properties 40 years and older accounted for 21 percent of the total, or an increase of 190,000 units to 1.79 million, the data showed, suggesting that one in five existing homes are older than the requirement for urban renewal.
The government has introduced preferential floor space terms and other incentives for urban renewal bids involving older properties.
Buildings declared dangerous due to earthquakes or other reasons also qualify for encouragement measures.
However, successful cases have been rare over the past few years due to the difficulty of winning support from all owners and lengthy regulatory reviews, Taiwan House Realty Co (台灣房屋) said.
Properties in Taipei are the oldest, with an average age of 33, followed by Tainan at 31, government data showed.
The average age rose to more than 26 years for properties in Kaohsiung, New Taipei City and Taichung, the data showed.
Properties in Taoyuan are on average 24.4 years old due to the relatively recent arrival of property funding, Taiwan Realty said.
Taiwan Realty forecast that homeowners would show more support for urban renewal as houses grow older and more vulnerable.
Taipei and New Taipei City have the highest density of old houses with 263,000 and 267,000 units 40 years and older respectively, government data found. Kaohsiung ranked third with 215,000 units.
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