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Japanese people do not expect to recoup the value of the land they paid their mortgage for. They expect their children to inherit the land and live on it. Consi

Japanese people do not expect to recoup the value of the land they paid their mortgage for. They expect their children to inherit the land and live on it. Considering that mortgages last 40 years, a lot of them are paid off by two generations of the family. Land in Japan is not really an investment. Investments are made with the purpose of selling them at some point in the future to realize gains. That's not how Japanese people approach land ownership. It's not how Americans really approach it either -- many Americans will say that their home is an investment but also say they want to live in it until they die, which means they will never realize any gains.

mcguire 10y ago
I thought I read, a very long time ago, that 100-year mortgages were common in the Tokyo area.
- manarth 10y ago
  There's a Fortune article which refers to Japan's 99-year and 100-year mortgages [1], in 1990. However, here's a Telegraph article which is only a year old, reporting Sweden's average mortgage term is 140 years [2]. [1] http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1990/05/21/73567/index.htm http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive... [2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/mortgages/sweden-cuts-maximum-mortgage-term-to-105-years-the-average-is-14/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/mortgages/sweden...
  - ptaipale 10y ago
    In Sweden the average for new loans indeed was 140 years, but since then, the regulator has set a maximum of 105. That's still a long time of course. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/mortgages/sweden-cuts-maximum-mortgage-term-to-105-years-the-average-is-14/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/mortgages/sweden...
jdavis703 10y ago
Well technically it is an investment, because once you've paid off the mortgage, the rents (i e. mortgage payments) become imputed income.

mcguire 10y ago

I thought I read, a very long time ago, that 100-year mortgages were common in the Tokyo area.

manarth 10y ago
There's a Fortune article which refers to Japan's 99-year and 100-year mortgages [1], in 1990. However, here's a Telegraph article which is only a year old, reporting Sweden's average mortgage term is 140 years [2]. [1] http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1990/05/21/73567/index.htm http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive... [2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/mortgages/sweden-cuts-maximum-mortgage-term-to-105-years-the-average-is-14/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/mortgages/sweden...
- ptaipale 10y ago
  In Sweden the average for new loans indeed was 140 years, but since then, the regulator has set a maximum of 105. That's still a long time of course. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/mortgages/sweden-cuts-maximum-mortgage-term-to-105-years-the-average-is-14/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/mortgages/sweden...

jdavis703 10y ago

Well technically it is an investment, because once you've paid off the mortgage, the rents (i e. mortgage payments) become imputed income.