The Central Bank has released data showing that the new home loans from the top five banks decreased by NT$30.7 billion in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the number of property transactions in the six major cities dropped by more than 20% year-on-year, indicating a trend of decline in the housing market. As reported on April 22, the amount of new housing loans issued by the five major banks in March reached NT$82 billion, a month-on-month increase of over NT$21 billion, while the mortgage interest rate rose to 2.264%, the highest in 16 years.

Officials noted that although the number of property transactions increased in March, leading to an increase in new mortgage amounts, the data for the first quarter shows a decrease of NT$30.7 billion compared to the same period last year, with a year-on-year decrease of 23.62% in property transactions in the six major cities. The housing market is clearly in a downward trend. The Central Bank today also announced that the weighted average interest rate for new loans from the five major banks in March was 2.111%, down 0.006 percentage points from February due to lower interest rates for turnover loans. Excluding government treasury loans, the weighted average interest rate was 2.166%, a decrease of 0.014 percentage points compared to February.

Although the new housing loan amount in March increased, it still represents a year-on-year decline of 21.08% in property transactions compared to last March. Overall, the concentration of real estate loans and the outstanding loan balances are decreasing, moving toward the goal of selective regulation.

The proportion of the New Green Loan in the new housing loans issued by the five major banks slightly decreased to 38.58%. Even though the New Green housing loan amount in March was NT$31.6 billion, which is over NT$6 billion more than the previous two months, the overall first quarter ratio did not significantly increase, reflecting that banks prioritize credit resources for first-time homebuyers or those without residential loans.

Last year, the Central Bank only raised interest rates by half a point but increased the reserve requirement ratio twice, which has reduced the funds available for banks and consequently restrains lending capacity. This is likely reflected in the mortgage rates. Officials emphasize that the reserve ratio is one of the Central Bank's policy tools aimed at observing the overall economy, with the effectiveness on the housing market being evaluated based on three key aspects highlighted by Chairman Yang Jinlong: reducing public expectations of property price increases, improving the excessive concentration of credit resources in real estate loans, and releasing funds originally intended for speculative demand to prioritize loans for those buying homes without self-use.