Taiwan's successful semiconductor industry is driving up property prices and putting pressure of the housing market.
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00:00Taiwan has become a global hub for the semiconductor industry,
00:04bringing immense wealth and transformation to its society.
00:08Behind this rise are thousands of engineers
00:11working in places like Hsinchu Science Park.
00:14Lester Wang is one of them.
00:18I have been in the semiconductor industry for nearly 10 years.
00:21I have worked for four companies.
00:23You may have heard of the technology industry,
00:25which is an industry with long working hours and lots of pressure.
00:29Many engineers regularly work overtime.
00:32I think it is normal to get off work at 8 or 9 p.m.
00:37The work may be demanding,
00:38but it's rewarded with an impressive paycheck.
00:41The average salary of an engineer in Hsinchu
00:44is more than two and a half times higher than the region's average.
00:47The tech boom has impacted the housing market,
00:50especially around Hsinchu Science Park.
00:56If we talk about the buyers of these new buildings,
00:58they're mostly senior engineers with annual incomes
01:01ranging from 84 to 280,000 euros.
01:08Armed with a high salary,
01:10engineers view purchasing an expensive property
01:13as the common next step.
01:15For many, shopping for a new apartment
01:17has become a weekend activity.
01:21Take off your shoes.
01:24Here's a three-bedroom, two-bathroom flat.
01:27It's what engineers mainly buy.
01:33As engineers strategize to find the best deals,
01:36real estate prices continue to climb.
01:40The housing prices have increased by more than 50% each year.
01:45The price per square meter 10 years ago was around 7,000 euros.
01:49During the pandemic, it increased to 8,500 euros.
01:53Now, one year later, it's 17,000 euros.
01:58Meanwhile, many young Taiwanese outside the tech sector
02:02watch their dream of home ownership slip further away.
02:08I'm young and just started working.
02:10I can't buy a house.
02:12I think it's pretty difficult for our generation
02:14because salary increases can't keep up with housing prices.
02:20But while Taiwan's semiconductor industry thrives,
02:24it's also facing challenges.
02:28Taiwan has faced declining birth rates,
02:31so it can't provide the talent the tech industry needs.
02:35And because product demand is not as high as it once was,
02:38there's a lot of news saying that companies
02:40are starting to lay off people, like Intel.
02:43So I think it may be a warning that, in fact,
02:45the talent of technology has reached a state of saturation.
02:50As the local semiconductor industry faces challenges
02:53on a global scale,
02:55Taiwan's key players must also navigate
02:57a shifting geopolitical landscape
02:59and a complicated relationship with China.
03:02It makes it almost impossible to tell
03:04what it will mean to the country's real estate market.
03:07Many engineers, like Lester,
03:09are already diversifying their investments,
03:12putting money into stocks alongside real estate.
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