Taiwan's housing transactions dip to 9-year low in 2025

Taipei, June 20 (CNA) Transactions of residential and commercial property in Taiwan plunged to a nine-year low in 2025, down more than 25 percent from a year earlier, due to a slew of selective credit controls in the home market launched by the central bank, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said Saturday.

Data compiled by the MOI showed transactions of homes, offices and shops in 2025 stood at 261,308 units, down 25.5 percent from a year earlier. The 2025 figure was the lowest level since 2016, when sales stood at 245,396 units, the data indicated.

The MOI said the central bank's selective credit controls in the home market have cooled down home buying and capped transactions last year.

After it imposed a seventh round of selective credit control measures on the home market in September 2024 to rein in home prices, described as the strictest measures in history, the central bank's credit controls have been slightly eased in March.

In the latest quarterly policymaking meeting on Thursday, the central bank left its existing selective credit controls unchanged.

According to the MOI, the number of property right transfer registrations reached 450,983 units in 2025, down 16.7 percent from a year earlier.

Sales of residential and commercial property accounted for around 57.9 percent of the total transfer registrations in 2025, down from 64.7 percent a year earlier, with transfers through heritage making up 17.4 percent of the total, up from 14.0 percent in 2024, the data indicated.

The number of first-time property registrations, referring to the registrations of newly built property, hit a new high of 176,690 units in 10 years on the back of an increase in construction permits issued and home construction starts, the MOI said.

According to the MOI, Taoyuan reported the highest first-time property registrations of 30,595 units in 2025, ahead of Taichung (30,077 units) and New Taipei (25,348 units).

The six largest cities in Taiwan -- Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung - represented 77 percent of the total first-time property registrations, the MOI said.