Taiwan's wealthy, who have grown their assets through the AI semiconductor boom, have emerged as the new big buyers in Tokyo's property market while Chinese buyers have pulled back.
Taiwanese Big Buyers Sweep Up Tokyo Real Estate
According to a Nikkei Asia report Friday, Taiwanese asset holders who have built wealth amid the AI boom are emerging as new major buyers in Japan's property market, where Chinese buyers have stepped back. With a weak yen and cross-strait tensions between China and Taiwan adding to the mix, Japanese real estate is emerging as a prominent overseas asset haven for Taiwan's wealthy.
According to data from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Taiwanese buyers purchased 192 new apartments in Tokyo's 23 wards in the first half of last year, 82% more than the total for all of 2024. Taiwanese accounted for about two-thirds of foreigners who bought new apartments in central Tokyo. Since this figure counts only Taiwanese non-residents in Japan, actual demand could be larger.
Behind the influx of Taiwanese money is the rapid growth of the semiconductor industry, centered on TSMC. Taiwan's benchmark TAIEX index has jumped 62% this year, and Taiwan surpassed India last month to become the world's fifth-largest stock market.
The combination of a weak yen and surging home prices in Taipei has heightened the effect of making Tokyo apartments look relatively cheap. With home prices in Taiwan already too high to buy, Tokyo is increasingly seen as a relatively safe asset at an accessible price point, according to this interpretation.
Added to this is the psychology of dispersing assets overseas whenever political uncertainty rises. As a result, Tokyo real estate is establishing itself as an option that serves as both investment and refuge for Taiwan's wealthy.
Korea Also Sees Surge in Overseas Remittances
The trend of turning to overseas real estate is no different in Korea. As domestic stock markets have set successive record highs this year on the back of the semiconductor rally, the swelling investment gains appear to be flowing into overseas assets as well.
According to data submitted to Rep. Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, by the Bank of Korea on Nov. 5, remittances by domestic residents for the purpose of acquiring overseas real estate totaled $210.3 million (about 319.1 billion won) in the January-April period this year. This corresponds to about 35% of last year's total remittances of $590.5 million, the highest in five years, and if this trend continues, this year's remittances could exceed last year's.
By country, the United States topped the list at $112 million (about 171.9 billion won), followed by Japan at $36 million (about 55.2 billion won), others at $31.3 million (about 48 billion won), and the United Arab Emirates at $13.9 million (about 21.3 billion won).
The industry views the shift toward overseas real estate, which is not counted in the number of homes owned, as a combination of high-intensity regulations on multi-home and non-resident housing and demand to diversify increased assets.
In particular, growth in Japanese real estate investment has been notable from this year. Remittances to Japan in the January-April period this year approached 46.3% of last year's annual remittances ($77.7 million). Analysts say Korean investors are turning to Japanese real estate for the same reasons as Taiwanese investors, including the weak yen and expectations of economic recovery.
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