Developers chill on property marketSADDLED DOWN: Developers and builders have become the nation’s largest debtors, accounting for 25 percent of bank loans, up from 20 percent in 2017, an analyst saidBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterDevelopers and analysts yesterday turned conservative about the local property market’s outlook after the central bank further tightened credit controls and the Ministry of Finance announced plans to stiffen property tax terms. Developers and builders became the nation’s largest debtors in January, accounting for 25 percent of overall bank loans, Sinyi research manager Tseng Ching-der (增進德) said, citing government statistics. The figures show that developers and builders acquired land and launched new projects during the soft period from 2015 to 2017, when they made up 20 percent of the nation’s outstanding loans, Tseng said. The rapid loan growth reflected an upturn in the property market, and alerted regulators about the need to step in to prevent a bubble, Tseng said. Legislators are reviewing property tax bills that might impose property levies of 45 percent on houses resold within five years of their purchase from two years to curb short-term speculation.

Source: Taipei Times March 19, 2021 15:56 UTC