Houses Keep Being Built But No One Lives in Them? Taiwan's Vacant Homes Surge Past 890,000! The National 'Vacancy King' Isn't New Taipei or Taichung

The Ministry of the Interior today released its latest statistical report on underutilized (low electricity usage) residential units, revealing that in the second half of 2025 (114th year), there were a total of 894,582 underutilized residential units across all counties and cities in Taiwan, with the vacancy rate dropping to 9.44%. This represents a significant decrease of 86,027 units compared to the first half of 2025, which recorded 980,609 units and a vacancy rate of 10.43%. The Ministry noted that after reaching the second-highest level in history during the first half of 2025, the vacancy rate has now reversed and declined. In terms of property characteristics, units under 20 ping in size had the highest underutilization rate, while for the first time, homes over 50 years old reached the peak underutilization rate.

The latest survey on low electricity usage residences (commonly known as vacant homes) shows that among the six major cities, Kaohsiung, New Taipei, and Taichung rank top three in total vacant units. The Ministry explained that the official statistics are derived by cross-referencing property tax residential data with Taipower's electricity consumption data, defining residences with average monthly electricity usage of 60 degrees or less during May–June (first half) or November–December (second half) as underutilized. This biannual reporting system has been in place since 2021.

Long-term trends show that from 2009 to the second half of 2021, the national underutilization rate gradually declined. However, starting in the first half of 2022, it rebounded and slowly increased, reaching a historical second-highest of 10.43% in the first half of 2025, before declining to 9.44% in the second half of 2025.

In terms of residential attributes, nationwide, units under 20 ping had the highest underutilization rate at 16.77%. Homes over 50 years old had the highest vacancy rate at 12.59%, followed by newly built homes (5 years or less) at 12.39%. This marks the first time in historical records that homes over 50 years old have topped the list.

Among the six major cities in the second half of 2025, Tainan recorded the highest underutilization rate at 10.92%, followed closely by Kaohsiung at 10.30%. The remaining four cities ranked as follows: Taichung at 8.58%, Taoyuan at 8.53%, New Taipei at 6.84%, and Taipei at 6.39%, which had the lowest underutilization rate nationwide.

In terms of total vacant units, the rankings among the six major cities saw a shift:

1st: Kaohsiung City – 119,437 units, officially surpassing New Taipei City to become the county with the highest number of underutilized residences nationwide. 2nd: New Taipei City – 119,168 units 3rd: Taichung City – 100,140 units 4th: Tainan City – 83,353 units 5th: Taoyuan City – 81,932 units 6th: Taipei City – 58,648 units

Further analysis of area and age characteristics across the six major cities shows:

In terms of area, Tainan City had the highest underutilization rate for units under 20 ping at 24.09%, the only municipality among the six to exceed 20%, while the other five all remained below 20%.

In terms of age, the patterns diverged: only Taichung City had the highest underutilization rate for homes over 50 years old (11.85%); the other five cities (Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Tainan, Kaohsiung) all had the highest underutilization rates among newly built homes (5 years or less), with Tainan recording the highest at 17.02%.

2026 Ministry of the Interior Statistics: Taiwan's Vacant Home Rankings by County/City

1. Kaohsiung City: 119,437 units (14.90% of national total) 2. Taichung City: 100,140 units (12.50%) 3. Tainan City: 83,353 units (10.40%) 4. Taoyuan City: 81,932 units (10.22%) 5. Taipei City: 58,648 units (7.32%) 6. Changhua County: 47,159 units (5.88%) 7. Pingtung County: 36,212 units (4.52%) 8. Yunlin County: 35,387 units (4.42%) 9. Yilan County: 29,716 units (3.71%) 10. Chiayi County: 26,112 units (3.26%) 11. Miaoli County: 24,688 units (3.08%) 12. Nantou County: 22,056 units (2.75%) 13. Hsinchu County: 20,776 units (2.59%) 14. Keelung City: 19,833 units (2.47%) 15. Hualien County: 18,760 units (2.34%) 16. Hsinchu City: 14,641 units (1.83%) 17. Taitung County: 13,721 units (1.71%) 18. Chiayi City: 13,177 units (1.64%) 19. Penghu County: 5,078 units (0.63%) 20. Kinmen County: 4,149 units (0.52%) 21. Lienchiang County: 439 units (0.05%)

(Source: Ministry of the Interior, graphic by Storm Media)