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The population of Tokyo has grown 50% over the last two decades while house prices and rents have stayed flat. The reason housing prices go up is almost always
by barry-cotter 6y ago
The population of Tokyo has grown 50% over the last two decades while house prices and rents have stayed flat. The reason housing prices go up is almost always because zoning makes building more housing illegal. See San Francisco. Contrast with Seattle and Houston. When more housing is built prices go down, or at least go up slower.
- odiroot 6y ago> almost always because zoning makes building more housing illegal That's usually the case in Western Europe. Or other artificial limitations put on construction projects.
- wonnage 6y agoThere are cultural differences here. Japanese houses are seen as depreciating assets, as nobody wants to live in an old house. See https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/03/15/why-japanese-houses-have-such-limited-lifespans https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/03/15/w... As a result, the phenomenon of hoarding real estate for profit simply doesn’t exist. And the regular tear down of old houses allows density to increase rapidly, at the expense of building waste.
- Aperocky 6y agoThis might just be the psychological aftermath of the Japanese bubble. Land prices in Japan was insane in early 1990s, and then it burst, losing almost 60% of the value. it doesn't get that high without people believing it will appreciate - and now they don't.