01.31.2001
Little hope for the housing program

• The 333 youth housing loan program began yesterday, which aims to encourage young people to purchase their own homes. The interest rate for the first 7 years is 3%, with the rate to equate to post office deposit two-year term rate plus 1 basis point from the 8th year onwards.

• Loan requirements are not easy to meet. Applicants need to be 20-40 years old, not previously owned a home, previously never applied for any allowance, to have income less than a certain level, and finally the maximum loan amount is NT$2.2m.

• We expect that this youth housing program will have limited impact on the property market in the short run, due to the fact that potential homebuyers lack confidence under the present economic climate.

BennyLo@Primasia.com +886-[0]2-2547-8869