About 90 percent of people in Taiwan believe housing prices are rising too quickly, even after the government introduced measures to rein in skyrocketing home prices, according to a survey released by Grassroots Influence Foundation on Wednesday.
Citing poll results, the foundation said 90 percent of respondents agreed home prices in Taiwan have risen too much, with only 5 percent disagreeing.
The foundation added that more than 50 percent of respondents expressed skepticism that the recent measures adopted by the central bank would stop the uptrend in home prices.
However, these surveyed believe that soaring home prices would lead many in the younger generation to avoid getting marriage as they cannot afford a home, the foundation said.
At the latest quarterly policy making meeting held in mid-December 2021, the central bank did not introduce new measures to rein in home prices, which surprised the market.
The bank explained that since December 2020 it has introduced four rounds of selective credit control measures in the local property market, which have slowed down home mortgage growth.
The central bank pledged it will continue to monitor the property market and if necessary adjust its credit control policies.
In contrast to the central bank's assessment, 54 percent of the respondents in the survey expect home prices to continue rising and believe the local property market is likely to become a bubble.
Speaking at a news conference held by the foundation, Lin Chia-chi (???), a law professor at Aletheia University, said skyrocketing home prices largely resulted from speculation by property investors who found such investments reap a good return and simply continue to pour money into the market for even more returns.
Under such circumstance, Lin said many young people who earn only a monthly paycheck rather than investment returns and want to buy a home for self-dwelling purposes, are particularly dissatisfied with high home prices as they cannot afford to buy.
About 65 percent of poll respondents in the 30-39 age group were unhappy with the current unaffordable home market, he said.
Chiou Jiunn-rong (???), an economics professor at National Central University, said the growth in home prices has surpassed the increase in costs shouldered by many property developers, and the current level of home prices has become unreasonable.
High home prices have also become a thorny issue concerning national security as the problem is prompting many young people, who cannot afford a home, to choose to have fewer children or even not to have children, pushing the birth rate down, Chiou said.
In addition, people who want to buy a home have to squeeze their spending on cultural and educational items to save money for their mortgage, Chiou said, and that can also hurt the quality of life in a country.
Many people feel deprived as they are unable to share in the benefits resulting from the growing local economy, the professor said.
He urged the central bank to come up with stricter selective credit controls to cap home price growth.
According to the foundation, the survey, conducted from April 27 to May 6, collected 1,194 valid questionnaires from local residents aged 18 and over. It has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel