There is no single national figure for how much down payment to prepare when buying a home. It depends on which category of borrower you fall into under the central bank rules, and then on the bank's appraisal. Under the central bank (央行) rules on real estate mortgage lending by financial institutions (《對金融機構辦理不動產抵押貸款業務規定》), published on 2026-09-17 and in force from 2026-09-18: a natural person who already has one mortgage can borrow at most 70% of the lower of the appraised value or the purchase price for a home purchase, so the down payment is at least 30%. A borrower who already has two or more mortgages, a buyer of a high-priced residence, and a company (legal entity) are capped at 30%, so the down payment is at least 70%. A first-time buyer who owns no house and has no mortgage is not listed in these categories in the provisions reviewed for this article, so the central bank sets no loan-to-value cap for that case; how much is actually lent is decided by the bank under its appraisal and credit rules. Borrowers who qualify for the Ministry of Finance's youth home-purchase preferential loan 3.0 (青安 3.0) can borrow up to 80%, but that is still a "maximum" and not a guarantee. A full worked example for a NT$15,000,000 pre-owned home follows. All rules were verified on 2026-11-07. The central bank's rules can change, so please check the latest announcement.
Legal limits versus what the bank will actually lend
"Down payment" (頭期款) is not a legal term. In plain language it is the money you have to pay yourself after the loan is subtracted from the total purchase price. Two layers affect it. The first is the central bank's rule on banks, which limits how much a bank may lend to certain borrowers. The second is the bank's own appraisal and credit rules, under which it may lend less than the legal cap. Point 10 of the central bank rules also states that if a financial institution's internal conditions for a loan are stricter than these rules, it must follow its internal rules. So the legal cap is not the same as the amount you can borrow.
The central bank rules classify home purchase loans to natural persons by whether the borrower owns a house and how many mortgages the borrower already has (Point 4). What the media call a "second mortgage" case (第 2 戶) is, in the text of the rules, a borrower who "already has one mortgage".
In the central bank's wording, 戶 is determined by the number of collateral items (Q&A item 14).
| Borrower situation | Loan cap (lower of appraised value or purchase price) | Minimum down payment | Grace period |
|---|
| No house and no mortgage (first-time buyer) | This category is not listed in the provisions; the central bank rules set no loan-to-value cap, and the bank decides under its credit rules | Cannot be calculated from the rules | This category is not listed in the provisions; not confirmed in this article |
| No mortgage but already owns a house | The provisions set no loan-to-value cap | Cannot be calculated from the rules | No grace period allowed |
| Already has one mortgage | 70%; the loan amount may not be increased with extra amounts under names such as renovation, working capital or other purposes | 30% | No grace period allowed |
| Already has two or more mortgages | 30% | 70% | No grace period allowed |
| Purchase of a high-priced residence (appraised value or purchase price of NT$70,000,000 or more in Taipei City, NT$60,000,000 or more in New Taipei, NT$40,000,000 or more elsewhere) | 30% | 70% | No grace period allowed |
| Company (legal entity) purchasing a residence | 30% | 70% | No grace period allowed |
The "minimum down payment" column is calculated as 100% minus the loan cap and is only the minimum threshold that the rules produce. In the version in force from 2026-09-18, the cap for a borrower who already has one mortgage is 70%. If older articles state a different percentage, defer to the central bank's current page.
On how "owns a house" and "number of mortgages" are determined, a few points in the central bank's Q&A matter to home buyers:
- Q&A item 11 concerns confirming whether the borrower has any building under their own name in the "national property tax consolidated property inquiry list" (全國財產稅總歸戶財產查詢清單); it does not mention a spouse or parents. The bank's own credit rules are counted separately. This differs from the youth loan: youth loan 3.0 requires the borrower, spouse and minor children all to own no residence.
- Owning only a share of a house still brings the borrower under the first-mortgage (第 1 戶) home purchase loan restriction, but a share of a house acquired by inheritance is not restricted (Q&A item 12). A building acquired by inheritance is not counted in the number of houses owned, and a mortgage taken over through inheritance is not counted in the number of mortgages (Q&A items 11 and 14).
- If all the houses under the borrower's name have been sold, as verified by the lending institution, the first-mortgage (第 1 戶) home purchase loan restriction can be excluded (Q&A item 13). If an original mortgage has a repayment certificate (清償證明) or the mortgage right has been cancelled, it can be excluded from the count (Q&A item 16).
- The Ministry of Finance's youth home-purchase preferential loan is not subject to the central bank rules' first-mortgage (第 1 戶) and second-mortgage (第 2 戶) home purchase loan restrictions (Q&A item 4).
Buying before selling: the 18-month accommodation for upgraders
Items 17 and 18 of the central bank Q&A set an accommodation for owner-occupier upgraders who "buy first, sell later" (先買後賣). It applies to loan cases recorded on or after September 20, 2024 (that date included).
| Situation | Accommodation | What the borrower must undertake in writing |
|---|
| No mortgage but owns a house, taking a first mortgage (第 1 戶) | May be exempt from the "no grace period" restriction | Within 18 months after the first-mortgage home purchase loan is disbursed, sell the existing house and complete the ownership transfer registration, and do not evade this by refinancing or similar means |
| Already has one mortgage, taking a second mortgage (第 2 戶) | May be exempt from the loan-to-value cap and the "no grace period" restriction | Within 18 months after the second-mortgage home purchase loan is disbursed, sell the collateral of the first mortgage and complete the ownership transfer registration, repay the debt and cancel the mortgage right securing the first mortgage, and do not evade this by refinancing or similar means |
The consequences of violating the undertaking include cancelling the grace period, immediately recalling the loan principal that would otherwise have been repaid in installments over the 18 months (in the second-mortgage case, also the difference in loan-to-value percentage), charging penalty interest on the loan balance from the disbursement date, and an additional penalty for evading the rule by refinancing or similar means; the specifics follow the loan contract. Before deciding to use this route, first assess whether the old home can be sold within 18 months.
If the appraisal is lower than the sale price, who pays the gap
The base for the loan cap is "the lower of the appraised value or the purchase price", so when the appraisal is below the sale price, the cap falls with it. The formula is: loan cap = lower of appraised value and sale price × percentage cap; minimum down payment = sale price − loan amount. This gap is first your problem; after that, it depends on what the sales contract provides.
Article 5 of the Ministry of the Interior's pre-owned home sales contract template (《成屋買賣契約書範本》; the version revised and announced on December 19, 2025 and in force from 2026-04-01, publicly available on the Ministry of the Interior's real estate information platform) provides that when the loan amount is less than the expected loan amount, it is handled in one of these ways depending on who is responsible:
- Not attributable to either party: the buyer makes up the shortfall in cash in one lump sum when the loan is disbursed, or the parties may rescind the contract, or other agreement.
- Attributable to the seller: the buyer may rescind the contract and the seller returns the price already paid together with delay interest; or the seller agrees that the buyer repay the shortfall in installments over the same term and conditions as the originally promised loan; or the seller agrees to charge interest at the rate of the originally promised loan and shorten the repayment term (the period may not be less than 7 years), with the buyer repaying in monthly installments; or other agreement.
- Attributable to the buyer: unless the seller agrees to installment payments of the difference, the buyer must pay the difference within a set number of days from the day of receiving notice (not less than 10 business days of financial institutions); if it is not paid by the deadline, the seller may rescind the contract.
The template is a tick-box form, and the actual content follows the contract you sign. Ticking clearly "what to do if the loan falls short" before signing is more useful than arguing afterward. For presale homes, please see separately What to watch for when buying a presale home: the 5-day contract review period, 5 major performance guarantees, floor-area error settlement and contract replacement rules.
Worked example: a NT$15,000,000 pre-owned home
Assumptions: a sale price of NT$15,000,000; the bank appraisal comes in two cases, NT$14,000,000 (an assumed value) and NT$15,000,000; and the loan is calculated at the central bank's caps. The table below only calculates "the highest loan the rules would allow". It is not what a bank actually approves, and it does not include other cash outlays. A first-time buyer who owns no house and has no mortgage has no cap under the rules, so that case is not in the table.
| Situation | Calculation base | Percentage | Loan cap | Minimum down payment (sale price of NT$15,000,000 minus the loan) |
|---|
| Already has one mortgage, bank appraisal NT$14,000,000 | NT$14,000,000 (the lower appraised value) | 70% | NT$9,800,000 | NT$5,200,000 |
| Already has one mortgage, appraisal NT$15,000,000 (same as the sale price) | NT$15,000,000 | 70% | NT$10,500,000 | NT$4,500,000 |
| Already has two or more mortgages, appraisal NT$14,000,000 | NT$14,000,000 | 30% | NT$4,200,000 | NT$10,800,000 |
| Qualifies for youth loan 3.0 and applies under the general-household quota, appraisal NT$14,000,000 | — | Up to 80%; quota up to NT$10,000,000 | NT$10,000,000 (80% exceeds NT$10,000,000 whether calculated on the appraised value or the sale price, and the NT$10,000,000 quota is lower) | NT$5,000,000 |
The difference between the first two rows is direct: for a borrower who already has one mortgage, if the appraisal falls from NT$15,000,000 to NT$14,000,000, the loan cap is NT$700,000 lower and the down payment must be NT$700,000 higher. As for the 80% of youth loan 3.0, item 11 of the Ministry of Finance Q&A explains that the actual approved percentage still depends on the collateral's location, its condition and the borrower's repayment ability, so that row is a "maximum" and the loan is not necessarily obtainable.
Beyond the figures in the table, buying a home also requires cash for deed tax, stamp duty, registration fees, scrivener (代書) fees, agent service fees and a renovation reserve. For these taxes and fees, see Which taxes and fees apply when buying a home? Deed tax, stamp duty, registration fees and scrivener fees summarized; this article does not repeat the amounts. How monthly payments and grace periods are calculated can be found in the site's article on equal principal-and-interest versus equal principal repayment. To check the building age of a home you are looking at first, you can use the building age calculator.
Signing, evidence, tax clearance, handover: how a pre-owned home purchase is paid in four installments
Article 3 of the Ministry of the Interior's pre-owned home sales contract template divides the price into four payments. The amount field for each payment is blank for the buyer and seller to fill in, and the template sets no proportions, so this article also does not give a figure for what is "usually" paid in each.
| Payment | Template wording (summary) |
|---|
| Signing payment | Paid at the same time as the contract is signed, including the deposit already received |
| Evidence payment | Paid on the agreed date, at the same time as the seller prepares all the documents required for the ownership transfer registration; at that point both parties also prepare the transfer registration documents and affix the special-purpose seals |
| Tax clearance payment | Paid within a set number of days after the notice date, once the land value increment tax and deed tax bills have been issued; at the same time both parties must pay the taxes in full as agreed |
| Handover payment | Where there is no loan, paid within a set number of days after the notice date once the ownership transfer registration is completed, with the handover at the same time; where there is a loan, as agreed under Articles 5 and 6 |
Where there is a loan, Article 5 of the template requires the buyer, at the same time as paying the evidence payment, to provide the authorization for repayment (授權代償) and other documents necessary to handle the loan, and to designate the financial institution for the financing (if none is designated, the seller may designate one). Article 6 requires the buyer, before paying the tax clearance payment, to complete in person, on the notified date, the account opening, the loan-signing check (對保) and other procedures necessary for the loan. When planning cash flow, compare the sum of the signing payment, the evidence payment and the tax clearance payment with the minimum down payment worked out in the table above, and confirm that the loan disbursement timing connects with the dates filled in the contract.
Youth loan 3.0: down payment and eligibility points
The Ministry of Finance's treasury administration (財政部國庫署) published the principles under which government-shareholding banks (公股銀行) handle the youth home-purchase preferential loan. Applications are accepted from 2026-08-01, the application period runs to 2029-07-31, and the disbursement date may not be later than 2029-10-31. The main conditions are below; for the details and the latest content, defer to the treasury administration's page.
| Item | Content |
|---|
| Borrower eligibility | An adult who is under 50 at the time of applying; the borrower, spouse and minor children all own no residence; anyone approved for this preferential loan or the 農安貸款 loan since 2023-08-01 may not apply; the borrower's own total annual income may not exceed NT$2,000,000 |
| Home price cap (the higher of the appraised value or the total purchase price) | Taipei City NT$35,000,000; New Taipei and Hsinchu County (City) NT$25,000,000; other counties (cities) NT$20,000,000 |
| Loan percentage and quota | Up to 80%; quota up to NT$10,000,000; up to NT$12,000,000 for a family that completed marriage registration within 2 years before the application date; up to NT$15,000,000 for a family with minor children |
| Term and repayment | Up to 40 years, including a 5-year grace period; the borrower's age when applying plus the approved loan term may not exceed 80 |
| The property | The registration date on the building transcript of the home bought must be within 6 months before the application date, or ownership registration must be completed within 6 months after approval; it must be used as an owner-occupied residence; you cannot reserve the quota first and buy a home afterward |
Item 15 of the Ministry of Finance Q&A reminds borrowers that banks still review under the "5P" principles of general credit assessment, and that not every case can be approved with the highest quota, the highest percentage, the longest grace period and the longest term of 40 years. The site's article on the new youth home loan (新青安) calculations was written before youth loan 3.0, so please defer to the treasury administration's current page.
Frequently asked questions
Must I prepare a 20% down payment first when buying a home?
Not according to the central bank provisions reviewed for this article, which do not set a uniform "down payment of at least 20%". The central bank only sets loan caps for specific borrowers (70% for those who already have one mortgage, 30% for the other restricted types). In other cases the bank decides by appraisal and credit rules, and youth loan 3.0 goes up to 80%. 20% is a commonly heard figure, but it is not a legal figure this article found.
If my spouse owns a home, will my purchase be treated as a second-mortgage (第二戶) case?
Item 11 of the central bank Q&A makes the determination from the data under the borrower's own name and does not mention the spouse. But banks have their own credit rules, so before applying it is advisable to ask the bank directly which records it will check. If you apply for youth loan 3.0, the borrower, spouse and minor children must all own no residence.
If the appraisal is much lower than the sale price, should I still buy?
A low appraisal means a low loan cap, and the down payment has to make up the difference; see the example above. Before signing, be sure to tick in the contract how a loan shortfall is to be handled. Whether to go ahead depends on whether your cash flow can bear it; this article does not provide housing price forecasts.
If I am upgrading and have to buy before selling, will my old mortgage be counted?
Yes. When the old home has a mortgage, item 14 of the Q&A determines the number of mortgages by the number of collateral items, and the new purchase loan falls under the situation of "already has one mortgage", with a cap of 70% and no grace period. If you qualify as an owner-occupier upgrader who buys first and sells later, and undertake in writing to complete the sale of the old home, the ownership transfer registration, the repayment and the cancellation of the mortgage within 18 months, you may be exempt from the loan-to-value cap and the grace period restriction; see the accommodation above.
Sources
- Central bank (中央銀行): rules on real estate mortgage lending by financial institutions (中央銀行對金融機構辦理不動產抵押貸款業務規定) (in force 2026-09-18, verified 2026-11-07) (in Chinese): Point 2 threshold for high-priced residences, Point 3 legal entities, Point 4 borrower categories with 70% and 30%, Point 10 stricter internal rules prevail
- Central bank (中央銀行): Q&A on the real estate mortgage lending rules (不動產抵押貸款業務規定問與答) (published 2026-09-17, verified 2026-11-07) (in Chinese): home purchase loan items 4, 11 to 14 and 16 to 18
- Ministry of Finance treasury administration (財政部國庫署): loan principles (youth loan 3.0) (verified 2026-11-07) (in Chinese): eligibility, home price caps, percentages, quotas, terms, application period
- Ministry of Finance treasury administration (財政部國庫署): Q&A collection (youth loan 3.0) (verified 2026-11-07) (in Chinese): Q&A items 3, 4, 11 and 15
- Ministry of the Interior real estate information platform (內政部不動產資訊平台): pre-owned home sales contract template (成屋買賣契約書範本) (announced December 19, 2025, in force 2026-04-01, verified 2026-11-07) (in Chinese): Article 3 four-installment payment, Articles 5 and 6 loan handling
