The central bank said its recent discussions about shortening mortgage periods would not affect first-time home buyers or urban renewal projects, but would be aimed at corporate buyers and multiple home owners, who are already subject to selective credit controls.
The central bank made the clarification in a statement on Saturday to calm fears that it would shorten mortgages from 30 years to 20 years during its June policy meeting in another bid to cool the housing market.
Central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) had told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee on Thursday that there was still room for improvement regarding efforts to regulate real-estate financing, especially in areas with evident price hikes.
Photo: CNA
“House loans remain high, though stable,” Yang told lawmakers, adding that he was considering further selective credit controls, such as tightening mortgage terms and lowering loan-to-value ratios.
Property analysts said the proposed measures, if realized, would hit young first-home buyers the hardest, as their monthly mortgage payments could inflate significantly and many might default, wreaking havoc on the nation’s financial system.
People with 30-year mortgages of NT$10 million (US$335,412) would have to pay NT$49,413 per month, up from NT$35,724 at present, if they are switched to a 20-year mortgage scheme with an annual interest rate of 1.75 percent, senior property broker Lee Tung-rong (李同榮) said.
Shortening mortgage periods is a policy tool under consideration that would not apply to first-time home buyers, who have been excluded from its previous four macro-prudential measures, the central bank said.
Fresh selective credit controls, if deemed necessary at the board meeting on June 16, would only target corporate buyers, houses in hotspots and people who have third home mortgages, the central bank said.
Hotspots refer to the six special municipalities: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County.
The central bank has banned grace periods for home purchases in those areas and is considering whether to cut their loan-to-value ratios, Yang said.
Lower loan-to-value ratios proved effective in cooling property fever years ago, he said, adding that stricter mortgages would also make home owners more cautious when planning their finances.
Several board members at the central bank’s March meeting said that housing price hikes bolster inflationary pressures, and the popular belief that owning real estate is the best defense against inflation suggests a need for policy intervention before it is too late.
CHANGING JAPAN: Nvidia-powered AI services over cellular networks ‘will result in an artificial intelligence grid that runs across Japan,’ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI). The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said. That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips. A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said. The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a
TECH SECURITY: The deal assures that ‘some of the most sought-after technology on the planet’ returns to the US, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said The administration of US President Joe Biden finalized its CHIPS Act incentive awards for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), marking a major milestone for a program meant to bring semiconductor production back to US soil. TSMC would get US$6.6 billion in grants as part of the contract, the US Department of Commerce said in a statement yesterday. Though the amount was disclosed earlier this year as part of a preliminary agreement, the deal is now legally binding — making it the first major CHIPS Act award to reach this stage. The chipmaker, which is also taking up to US$5 billion
TRADE WAR: Tariffs should also apply to any goods that pass through the new Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru, an adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump said A veteran adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump is proposing that the 60 percent tariffs that Trump vowed to impose on Chinese goods also apply to goods from any country that pass through a new port that Beijing has built in Peru. The duties should apply to goods from China or countries in South America that pass through the new deep-water port Chancay, a town 60km north of Lima, said Mauricio Claver-Carone, an adviser to the Trump transition team who served as senior director for the western hemisphere on the White House National Security Council in his first administration. “Any product going
CARBON REDUCTION: ‘As a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, we recognize our mission in environmental protection,’ TSMC executive Y.P. Chyn said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday launched its first zero-waste center in Taichung to repurpose major manufacturing waste, which translates into savings of NT$1.5 billion (US$46 million) in environmental costs a year. The environmental cost savings include a carbon reduction benefit of 40,000 tonnes, equivalent to the carbon offset of over 110 Daan Forest Parks, the chipmaker said. The Taichung Zero Waste Manufacturing Center is part of the chipmaker’s greater efforts to reach its net zero emissions goal in 2050, aligning with the UN’s 12th Sustainable Development Goal. The center could reduce TSMC’s outsourced waste processing
RSS