Most expect housing prices to stabilize in Q4: Survey

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) Over 60 percent of respondents to a survey expect housing prices in Taiwan to stabilize in the fourth quarter of this year, while the share who believe it will not be a good time to buy a home over the next two years fell, indicating improving sentiment toward the local housing market, Chinatrust Real Estate Co. said Tuesday.

Citing the poll, Chinatrust, one of Taiwan's major property agencies, said 64.1 percent of respondents expected local home prices to remain stable during the October-December period, while 18.3 percent expected prices to rise between 6 and 10 percent, and 9.8 percent said they expected prices to "rise sharply." Less than 8 percent thought home prices would fall in the fourth quarter, Chinatrust added.

The survey also found that 50.2 percent of respondents said the next two years would not be a good time to buy a home, down almost 10 percentage points from a similar poll conducted in June.

In a statement, Chuang Ssu-min (莊思敏), deputy head of Chinatrust's research department, said that with inflationary pressure on the rise, more potential homebuyers were inclined to enter the property market to hedge against inflation.

The number of respondents looking to buy a home for their own use also increased, indicating a recovery in confidence in the local housing market, Chuang said.

Ahead of the central bank's quarterly policymaking meeting Thursday, the survey found that 41.2 percent of respondents said the bank should ease its selective credit controls for first-time homebuyers and those purchasing homes for their own use, while 17 percent urged the central bank to remove all selective credit restrictions. Another 13.1 percent said the current controls should remain unchanged.

In March, the central bank relaxed its selective credit controls on second-home mortgages for individual buyers following a seventh round of restrictions imposed in June 2024.

Chuang said there is room for the central bank to further ease its selective credit controls on the housing market, as the ratio of home mortgages to banks' total lending has shown signs of falling.

She said further easing could encourage more potential owner-occupier homebuyers to enter the market and boost market momentum.

The survey found that only 13.7 percent of respondents said the central bank should raise its key interest rates at the upcoming meeting, while 31.4 percent said a rate cut was necessary and 22.2 percent said interest rates should remain unchanged.

Chuang said the poll showed that more than 50 percent of respondents supported either keeping rates unchanged or lowering them, as they hoped to avoid an increase in their financial burden by paying higher interest when buying a home.

She said that with the local housing market showing positive signs, a rate hike could prompt potential homebuyers to delay purchases and slow the market's recovery.