Tokyo has consistently grown faster than any other first world megacity for over 30 years now, feeding off of its status as pretty much the only place in the co

Tokyo has consistently grown faster than any other first world megacity for over 30 years now, feeding off of its status as pretty much the only place in the country that hasn't had stagnated economic growth. And despite this growth (housing units growing at >2% per year every year, compared to 0.3% for Seattle which is one of the fastest growth rates of any city in the US), housing prices have remained flat for 30 years now. Developers don't 'walk away' because prices are low...they are forced to compete to survive and they deal with the low prices. The problem really is supply, and japanese zoning is objectively better for housing costs. Anybody who thinks that it is impossible for supply to keep up with boom time demand has no idea how much housing that developers are willing to build if we just fucking let them.