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  • A daily ritual for newlyweds Chen Youliu and Cheng Weiyou as they hunt for their perfect first home.

  • Currently, the biggest issue we're facing is the housing prices.

  • Typically, finding a house within our budget means it's either quite old or the commute is difficult.

  • Taipei's house prices are among the least affordable in the world.

  • This renovated two-bedroom apartment in central Taipei has a price tag of around 1.4 million Australian dollars.

  • Realtor Steven Yu says a government tax scheme designed to calm the property market after the last boom made things worse during the pandemic.

  • If you want to sell the house, you'll be taxed 45% for the first couple of years.

  • So that means the supply, the people they want to wait out three to five years to sell the house.

  • So there's a shortage of houses and an influx of new buyers.

  • However, some young people are disengaging altogether and spending their money on simple pleasures like travel, entertainment or even just a good coffee.

  • So if I cannot buy a house, I cannot build our family.

  • So what do I do?

  • I spend all my money, right?

  • And these small pieces of spending make you happy in a very short time and then you just live day by day.

  • Just like in Australia, home ownership is highly valued in Taiwan.

  • But for young people in particular, that goal is feeling increasingly out of reach and renting comes with its own set of challenges.

  • Landlords often keep their property registered as owner-occupied, meaning tenants can't access government subsidies.

  • So this group is working to matchmake honest landlords with like-minded young renters. 90% or 80% of this market is black market.

  • Those landlords don't want to pay tax and also they are worried who is living inside.

  • Performance artist Sen-Chi Wei and Australian dancer Baden Hitchcock live in one of the association's share houses.

  • The landlord is above board so some of the housemates can claim a rent subsidy.

  • It's not only about money, yeah, here we get lower price but we get to also create art like as an artist we can use this space.

  • Sometimes a little creative thinking can go a long way.

  • Kathleen Calderwood, ABC News, Taipei.

A daily ritual for newlyweds Chen Youliu and Cheng Weiyou as they hunt for their perfect first home.

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