Following a briefing Thursday on real estate market policy by the National Development Council, Premier Su Tseng-chang said that the government will redouble efforts to stamp out real estate speculation and bring about housing justice. Given the close relationship between housing prices and the financial burdens of everyday life, healthy development of the real estate market is essential to the attainability of quality housing for hardworking people.
Loose monetary policy around the world is driving the flow of capital globally, said the premier. Factors such as Taiwan's success in controlling the coronavirus, good economic performance, low interest rates, capital inflows, and overseas enterprises returning home have driven up housing demand and boosted real estate in certain regions of the domestic market. To discourage speculation and irrational pricing, the government has adopted a full range of measures to steer funds into industry and production that might otherwise encourage housing inflation by flowing into real estate.
The government has laid out several measures for strengthening the housing market, including establishing diagnostic indicators for the real estate market, stepping up audits on sales of pre-sold homes, amending actual-price registration laws, eliminating tax evasion in transactions done under a company name or where single units are subdivided into separate properties, making better use of credit resources and controlling credit risks, and expanding social housing and rent subsidies. These measures will help curb speculation in the housing market, prevent tax evasion, save the housing market from being flooded by capital, and create quality homes to achieve housing justice, the premier said.
The government will continue to intensify inspections on how homes are actually being used, and in the medium and long term will review housing tax rates and create a home purchasing system for private juridical persons. These measures will be gradually implemented and promoted to benefit more people in need, Premier Su added.