FOMO Frenzy Fuels Taiwan Home Prices Despite Threat of China Invasion
Sure, Beijing is increasingly belligerent, but real estate is soaring as desperate buyers pile into the market.
Construction in Neihu.
Photographer: An Rong Xu for Bloomberg Businessweek
Over two days in June, dozens of Chinese warplanes flew close to Taiwan, part of an increasingly routine effort to amp up pressure on an “instigator of war,” as Beijing leadership labels the island’s new president. Even as the jets were buzzing the skies offshore, in the leafy, lakeside Taipei district of Neihu, 30 prospective buyers were queuing up to view a NT$32 million ($1 million) house.
They’d been there for hours, arriving early in the morning for a chance to view the property. As it turned out, the first buyer went into contract 10 minutes after going through the door. “In 15 years doing this job, I’ve never seen demand like this,” says Peng Chang-sheng of Sinyi Realty, the listing agent for the home.