Shenzhen Real Estate Market Quietly Shows “Sell Taiwan, Move to the US” Trend: As TSMC’s Arizona plant accelerates mass production, more and more Hsinchu tech engineers are beginning to sell their Taiwanese properties in preparation for long-term assignments or immigration to the US.
(Background: Taiwan’s declining birthrate and aging population trigger a wave of inheritance issues! 3.1 billion in estates “confiscated in full,” large landowners with 140 million yuan worth of land left untouched for 44 years)
(Additional context: Taiwan is rapidly advancing into a “super-aged society”—twice as fast as Japan! Healthcare burden increases, labor shortages in companies… a population crisis is emerging)

Table of Contents

• Hsinchu Tech Engineers Shift Assets, “Sell Taiwan, Move to the US” Becomes a New Trend
• TSMC’s Arizona Plant Progresses, Accelerating Talent Flow
• Market Impact: From “Always Plenty of Buyers” to Rational Differentiation

As TSMC’s Arizona plant’s mass production plan accelerates, a subtle yet clear wave of “Sell Taiwan, Move to the US” is emerging in the Hsinchu real estate market. An increasing number of mid-to-high level engineers from Hsinchu’s tech sector are starting to sell their properties in preparation for long-term overseas assignments or family immigration, potentially leading to subtle structural changes in the market.

Hsinchu Tech Engineers Shift Assets, “Sell Taiwan, Move to the US” Becomes a New Trend

According to real estate blogger “Sell House Ah Ming” on the Facebook page “Sell House Ah Ming Knowledge+,” this wave of property sales mainly concentrates in core areas such as Zhubei High-Speed Rail District, Guanpu Redevelopment Zone, and Jieshou Section. The properties being sold are generally new and well-maintained, considered “star products” in the market.

Sell House Ah Ming points out that these engineers are not selling out of urgency to cash out or for speculation, but rather to prepare for long-term stay in the US. He describes this phenomenon as a “gray rhinoceros” in the Hsinchu housing market—low-profile on the surface, but once the scale expands, its impact cannot be underestimated. Many transactions are even completed within company internal groups or among junior colleagues, making it difficult for outsiders to notice:

This low-key yet clearly directed asset reallocation behavior is described by some industry insiders as a “gray rhinoceros” in the Hsinchu housing market—quiet but with significant potential impact once it takes shape.

TSMC’s Arizona Plant Progresses, Accelerating Talent Flow

TSMC’s investment in Arizona is massive, totaling 165 billion USD, including 6 wafer fabs, 2 advanced packaging plants, and R&D centers. The first wafer fab (Fab 21 Phase 1) is scheduled to start mass production in Q4 2024, using 4nm process technology, with yield comparable to Taiwan plants; the second plant’s construction is complete, equipment installation is expected to begin in 2026, and mass production is anticipated to start in late 2027; the third plant targets 2nm and more advanced processes, aiming for mass production before the end of this decade.

Behind this huge investment are responses to the demand for AI chips, geopolitical factors, and US CHIPS Act policies, which also mean a need for a large number of top Taiwanese engineers to be stationed long-term. As overseas deployment becomes a standard career path for mid-to-high level engineers, the housing supply and demand dynamics in Hsinchu’s core districts are quietly changing.

Market Impact: From “Always Plenty of Buyers” to Rational Differentiation

Sell House Ah Ming believes that this “Sell Taiwan, Move to the US” trend does not mean a housing market crash, but the era of “any price will do” may be ending. In the future, Hsinchu’s housing market will more clearly show case-by-case performance and price differentiation. Stable supply of high-quality properties will gradually replace the previous belief that engineers’ demand for housing is always abundant. This not only reflects supply and demand in the housing market but also reveals a structural shift of Taiwan’s semiconductor talent on the global stage.

As for how far this trend can go, Sell House Ah Ming believes the key lies in three factors, and he writes:

The continued expansion of TSMC’s US plants, the friendliness of US immigration policies toward high-level engineers, and the relative return expectations of the housing markets in Taiwan and the US. As long as two of these conditions remain favorable for “staying in the US,” the “Sell Taiwan, Buy US” trend will not be just isolated cases.