Taiwan mortgages jump as China and U.S. housing stay weak and data centers buck office stress

Moki

3 min read·2026/08/26

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Today’s real estate picture is split between short-term mortgage and transaction rebounds in Taiwan, policy-supported but still contracting housing in China, soft U.S. demand under high rates, and a commercial-property market where office refinancing stress contrasts with AI-driven data-center demand.

Image / 經濟日報

Taiwan mortgage balances rise, but the rebound is narrow

Taiwan’s July housing-finance data point to a short-term rebound rather than a broad cycle turn. Economic Daily News, citing central-bank statistics, reported that outstanding home-purchase loans reached NT$11.8896 trillion at the end of July, up NT$76.9 billion from June and 4.52% from a year earlier. Separate Ministry of the Interior transfer data showed 26,404 building ownership transfers in July, up 13.2% month over month and 10.4% year over year, but January-July transfers were still down 2.0%. Developer-side credit weakened, with construction-loan balances falling for a fifth month to about NT$3.43 trillion.

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Image / 經濟日報

Policy pressure rises as builders seek looser credit rules

Taiwan’s stronger July mortgage and transfer figures are feeding a policy debate rather than ending financing stress. The builders’ association asked authorities to ease second-home mortgage limits, raise luxury-home thresholds, keep normal mortgages near 70% loan-to-value with longer 40-year terms, speed local project approvals, and shift anti-speculation rules toward hoarded land. The current concern is the handover stage: buyers who expected higher loan ratios during presale may face lower bank approvals at completion, increasing risks of delayed closings, cancellations, disputes and pressure on developers’ cash flow.

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China eases selectively, while national sales and investment keep shrinking

China’s housing market remains policy-supported but nationally weak. Official January-July data showed real-estate development investment down 19.2% year over year, newly built commercial-building floor space sold down 11.8%, sales value down 13.1%, and individual mortgage funding to developers down 23.5%. Prices are still under pressure: July new-home prices in Tier-1 cities were flat month over month but down 1.1% year over year, while Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities fell more. Shanghai’s recent easing, including lower down payments for some second homes outside the Outer Ring and temporary trade-in subsidies, may help top-city transactions, but it has not yet changed the national adjustment trend.

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U.S. builders face slower sales despite modest price relief

The latest U.S. data show affordability still limiting demand. Census and HUD reported July new single-family home sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 607,000, down 10.5% from June and 6.3% from a year earlier, while inventory rose to 488,000 homes, or 9.6 months of supply. The median new-home sales price fell to $393,800. Freddie Mac’s latest weekly survey put the 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.65%, down only slightly from the prior week. Case-Shiller data still showed national home prices up 1.5% year over year in June, but with clear regional divergence.

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Image / CRE Daily

Commercial real estate splits between office debt stress and AI data-center demand

Commercial real estate remains deeply bifurcated. CRE Daily, citing Trepp, said August private-label CMBS hard maturities total $5.49 billion, more than double July, with office loans accounting for about one-third and every non-performing loan in the cohort. Trepp’s year-to-July issuance data showed $76.2 billion of private-label CMBS issuance, mostly single-asset, single-borrower deals; office led by property type, while data centers appeared only in SASB deals. On the demand side, Data Center Dynamics reported JLL’s finding that North American data-center absorption reached a record 25 GW in the first half, with vacancy near 1%, keeping AI infrastructure a rare growth pocket in property markets.

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Browse tagsFinance Interest Rates China Artificial Intelligence

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Taiwan mortgages jump as China and U.S. housing stay weak and data centers buck office stress

Taiwan mortgage balances rise, but the rebound is narrow

Policy pressure rises as builders seek looser credit rules

China eases selectively, while national sales and investment keep shrinking

U.S. builders face slower sales despite modest price relief

Commercial real estate splits between office debt stress and AI data-center demand

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