Taiwan's Semiconductor Success Is Fueling a Surge in Home Prices
Home prices in Taiwan are rising in tandem with the expansion plans of the world’s most important semiconductor manufacturers.
Apartment buildings in Hsinchu.
Photographer: Lam Yik Fei/BloombergTaiwan's success in the semiconductor industry is fueling a boom in house prices that is spreading from north to south, with highly paid workers at major chipmakers pushing the property market to buck the trend of a global slowdown.
Nowhere is the economic impact of the chip industry on the housing market more visible than in Taiwan’s main tech hub Hsinchu, just 30 minutes south of Taipei by high-speed rail. Luxury apartment complexes are being built just a stone’s throw from the Science Park in the city’s north, where the headquarters of the world’s biggest chip manufacturer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., and other companies are located, churning out crucial chips.