Rent in Taiwan highest since records began

台灣租金創歷史新高

June statistics show overall rent increase of 1.98% in Taiwan, 2.59% in central Taiwan


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The cost of rent in Taiwan is the most expensive since records began in 1981, according to the government’s rent index for June.

Central Taiwan's rental prices increased the most at 2.59%, while the increase across the entire country was 1.98%, per NOW News. Tseng Ching-te (曾敬德), a researcher at Taiwanese real estate agency Sinyi Realty, said that the increase was driven by record-high house prices and inflation.

Tseng said increased demand for rental properties outside Taipei and New Taipei is pushing up prices in other areas. He said areas outside Taipei and New Taipei have relatively lower rental prices, and because of this low base level, the overall percentage price increase was particularly pronounced.

Taiwan’s government introduced plans for a “property hoarding tax” in early July aimed at reducing historically high house prices, which are among the most expensive in the world. The tax has not yet been implemented, and Tseng said it is still too early to feel the impact of the plans.

He said that house prices are unlikely to decrease in the short term, as the number of properties entering the market over the past year has decreased, the job market is stable, and the number of those who rent houses and want to buy them has also decreased.

According to the Ministry of Finance, there were 525,925 unoccupied houses in Taiwan in 2022, and a report released by the Ministry of the Interior in 2021 pointed out a “serious property hoarding problem.” The report showed that property ownership among individual buyers was low and that the number of legal entities (investment groups, trusts) buying houses in Taiwan was significant.

The same report showed that more than half of the legal entities buying property sold the same properties again within one year, compared to just under 10% for individual buyers.