The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a draft bill to restrict transfers of presale and new housing contracts, and to impose heavy fines of up to NT$50 million (US$1.73 million) on unfair promotions of real-estate properties.
The move came one week earlier than expected, after housing prices picked up steeply across Taiwan in the past two years.
The draft amendment to the Equalization of Land Rights Act (平均地權條例), proposed by the Ministry of the Interior, still needs to clear the legislature before taking effect.
The draft bill aims to severely punish real-estate speculation, maintain order in the real-estate market and protect the rights of
By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe Executive Yuan yesterday approved a draft bill to restrict transfers of presale and new housing contracts, and to impose heavy fines of up to NT$50 million （US$1.73 million） on unfair promotions of real-estate properties.
Taipei, April 5 (CNA) Transactions of residential and commercial property in Taiwan's six largest cities were at their highest in the first quarter in 11 years despite government measures to rein in speculation in the property market.
Housing transactions in the nation’s six special municipalities last month soared 61.4 percent from a month earlier to 25,257 units, as the market emerged from a holiday effect, but interest rate hikes are driving market uncertainty, real-estate brokers said last week.
The figure marked an 11.9 percent increase over the same period last year, they said.
Kaohsiung, New Taipei City, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei and Taoyuan all reported transaction increases of more than 50 percent month-on-month, thanks partly to a low comparison base in February, as people put off purchases during the Lunar New Year holiday, brokers said.
“The week-long holiday postponed home purchases
The extra mortgage burden from the central bank on Thursday hiking the interest rate should be bearable and might help deter developers from increasing prices, brokers said yesterday.
The 0.25 percentage point rate hike would lift the mortgage interest rate to 1.65 percent from 1.4 percent, adding NT$1,200 (US$42.31) of interest expense a month for people with NT$10 million of mortgage on a 20-year payment scheme, said Tseng Ching-der (增進德), research manager at Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), the nation’s only listed broker.
“The extra burden is about the cost of a bowl of braised pork rice each day, a sacrifice that is