Taiwan transitions to targeted Youth Home Loan 3.0 program

Taiwan's Youth Home Loan 2.0 program has concluded, having disbursed loans to approximately 177,000 households totaling nearly 1.4 trillion TWD over three years. The average loan amount per household reached 7.82 million TWD, a significant increase from the previous phase. The program's popularity was driven by extended loan terms of up to 40 years and grace periods of up to five years.

The successor program, Youth Home Loan 3.0, has launched with stricter eligibility requirements. It includes income caps of 2 million TWD per year, age limits under 50, and specific wealth and age restrictions to ensure targeted support. To encourage family growth, the program offers increased loan limits of up to 15 million TWD for families focused on marriage and childbearing.

In the broader real estate market, homeowners in suburban areas (often referred to as 'protein zones') are facing challenges with home equity loans. Some owners have reported difficulties securing additional financing from private and online banks due to low transaction volumes in suburban districts, which makes it harder for banks to verify property value increases through official price registries. In such cases, state-owned banks remain a primary option for refinancing.