With an advertising sign in his hands, Liao Chin-chang stands wearily at an intersection near a new luxury apartment building in Taipei, trying to earn money as a walking billboard for the type of property most Taiwanese will never afford.

The sight of homeless people holding placards for elite properties at street corners is becoming increasingly common in Taiwan’s capital, providing a harsh illustration of the island’s gap between the haves and have nots.

The 51-year-old former taxi driver, who became homeless a decade ago, is among the growing number of victims of a struggling economy, many of whom have been forced out of their homes after losing their jobs.

While the luxury apartment Liao advertises is expected to sell for more than Tw$100 million ($3.33 million), property prices in general are beyond reach for many regular salary-earners with an average monthly income of less than Tw$40,000.

For the likes of Liao, even renting a room is out of the question.

“I can’t even afford to pay the rent since I lost my job ten years ago. I’ve only saved Tw$4,000 from doing odd jobs all these years which is not enough to rent a small room for one month,” said Liao.

In recent years the gap between the rich and poor has widened rapidly, reaching a record level in 2011 as the wealthiest families earned 96 times more than the poorest.

It has coincided with a slowing economy, partly driven by the relocation of manufacturing industries to cheaper foreign countries such as China and Vietnam, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of blue collar jobs.