The Cabinet yesterday gave the go-ahead to a Ministry of Finance proposal for preferential interest rates for first-home purchases to support housing justice, ahead of a rally planned on Sunday to protest housing unaffordability.
Those who have not previously owned a home and do not have children who are homeowners would be able to apply for the three-year preferential interest rate of 1.775 percent and borrow up to NT$10 million (US$321,688), up from the previous NT$8 million, the ministry said.
The grace period in which borrowers only have to make payments on interest, and not on the principal, has also been extended from three years to five years, it said.
Photo: CNA
The package was announced after the government raised the cap on taxes for multiple home ownership from 3.6 percent to 4.8 percent to help curb hoarding, a practice widely blamed for fueling price increases.
The preferential loans are expected to benefit 58,000 buyers, and cost the government and state-run lenders NT$5 billion, Deputy Minister of Finance Frank Juan (阮清華) told reporters, adding that the figures might be higher depending on how many loans are approved.
State-run Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (臺灣土地銀行), Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫商業銀行), First Commercial Bank (第一商業銀行), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南商業銀行) and Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化商業銀行) would offer loans of up to 40 years, and absorb interest losses of 12.5 basis points, Juan said.
The government would bear the remaining cost of 25 basis points using its housing fund, he said.
That is the lowest borrowing cost available, as interest rates for standard mortgages are 2.03 percent, he said.
The favorable lending terms aim to lower the thresholds for young people to buy their own home, Juan said.
However, while it is called a purchasing subsidy for young people, there is no age limit to apply.
Housing unaffordability has been a top complaint and civic groups are organizing a rally in front of the Presidential Office Building to vent their displeasure.
The government has since 2010 introduced preferential interest rates to help people buy homes, benefiting 340,000 people, Juan said, adding that a considerable number have paid their debts.
The preferential interest rates would take effect on Aug. 1 and run through July 31, 2026, the ministry said.
H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) said the package would help invigorate the property market, which has slowed following five interest rate hikes by the central bank to tame inflation.
Still, buyers need to exercise careful financial planning, as the interest subsidy would only last for three years, it said.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS