Taipei Times
Date: Sep 27, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

About 66 percent of Taiwanese expect housing prices to decline next quarter, up 5 percentage points from a survey three months ago, as suggestions of unfavorable polices deepen caution and are likely to drag this year’s transactions down to a record low, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) said yesterday.

“Buying interest improved modestly last quarter after the central bank eased mortgage restrictions, but subsided again this quarter,” Evertrust general manager Yeh Ling-chi (葉凌棋) told a news conference in Taipei.

The nation’s largest broker by number of offices attributed the retreat seen in its latest survey to talk of housing tax hikes, from luxury to homes that are 15 years old or older, Yeh said.

The softening trend may persist for the rest of this year as the government appears inclined to raise holding taxes, even though it is hesitant to do so in a drastic manner, Yeh said.     [FULL  STORY]