LOOSER POLICY:While the number of loans increased, the average interest rate for new housing loans fell 0.011 percentage points after the central bank cut key rates

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 25, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

New home mortgages extended by five major banks hit a new high last month as home buyers rushed to complete transactions in a bid to shun a higher tax burden resulting from a tax reform effective from this month, the central bank said.

Citing its own statistics, the central bank on Friday said that the five major lenders extended NT$86.37 billion (US$2.56 billion) in mortgages last month, more than double the NT$38.04 billion recorded in November last year.

Last month’s figure also rose sharply by NT$44.49 billion from the same period in 2014, data showed.     [FULL  STORY]