Home and wife out of reach

Taiwan TEACHER I-Chung Huang has hunted in vain for a home in Taipei’s soaring market for four years, convinced that owning one could help him find a wife.

‘‘Renting is fine when you’re young, but I’m in my 30s and I have a stable income,’’ says Huang, who earns NZ$3000 a month teaching civics and writing textbooks.

First-time buyers like Huang have been shut out of the market after home prices in Taipei almost tripled in 10 years, spurred by low mortgage rates.

Taiwan’s housing market surged after the government relaxed rules that prompted locals to repatriate more income from mainland China, and the central bank lowered borrowing costs to buoy the economy. Taiwanese who had accumulated wealth during the 1990s technology boom poured their savings into real estate, driving up prices.

Mortgage rates reached an alltime low of 1.62 per cent in 2010. They have been below 2 per cent since February 2009.

The average price for a residential unit in Taipei was about NZ$850,000 at the end of March.

At Elite One, a planned residential complex in Taipei, apartments are being offered for as much as NZ$11,000 a square metre.

President Ma Ying-Jeou vowed last month to create 10,800 rental units in the next three years and about 11,000 homes to be sold at below-market prices.

House prices have jumped so much that Huang, even with a monthly salary from teaching that’s twice Taiwan’s average, can’t compete with rival bidders.

He lost out when his offer for a 20-year-old one-bedroom unit in Zhongshan district was trumped.

Huang, 36, founded a group, the Taiwan Adequate Housing Association, earlier this year to fight for affordable housing. It educates people about housing policies and lobbies lawmakers and government officials. In October, it plans to stage an overnight sleep-in next to a luxury development in Taipei as a protest.

‘‘If we fight, there’s a chance of things changing,’’ says Huang, who is still looking for a bride. ‘‘But I’m going to try to persuade my next girlfriend to accept that I may rent and not buy an apartment for now.’’ WASHINGTON POST-BLOOMBERG