That sounds like a lot, but 32x is probably less than the differential in the US between downtown manhattan and suburban Jersey or Delaware, and of course there

That sounds like a lot, but 32x is probably less than the differential in the US between downtown manhattan and suburban Jersey or Delaware, and of course there's a whole rural level in the US far below that as well. That said, the whole "tokyo is just turbo-expensive!" thing is, in the broad strokes, generally false. Buying land in high-density commercial districts is going to be expensive, just like if you wanted to build a detached single-family home in downtown manhattan, but to put some hard numbers to it: In September 2020, the average listing price for a newly constructed detached wooden house in Tokyo of between 100-sqm and 300-sqm (1,076 sqft and 3,229 sqft) was: https://resources.realestate.co.jp/news/how-much-does-it-cost-to-buy-a-house-in-tokyo-october-2020-update/ https://resources.realestate.co.jp/news/how-much-does-it-cos... > Greater Tokyo Area: ¥36,850,000 ($354,000) > Tokyo (23 Wards + Western Suburbs): ¥42,880,000 ($412,000) > Tokyo 23 Wards: ¥59,410,000 ($570,000) > Tokyo western suburbs: ¥40,110,000 ($385,000) -- > For July to September 2020, the average sales price for a previously owned detached house in Tokyo was: > Tokyo (23 Wards + Western Suburbs): ¥46,150,000 ($443,000) -This was a year-on-year increase of 5.5% and an increase of 14.6% compared to the April to June period, when sales dropped sharply due to coronavirus social distancing measures. -This was also the highest average sales price since the July to September (3rd quarter) 2018 period of ¥47,020,000. > Tokyo 23 Wards: ¥57,170,000 ($549,000) -This was a year-on-year increase of 5.7% and an increase of 15.8% compared to the April to June period. -This was also the highest average sales price since the July to September (3rd quarter) 2018 period of ¥57,170,000. > Tokyo Western Suburbs: ¥32,730,000 ($319,000) -This was a year-on-year increase of 10.1% and an increase of 5.7% compared to the April to June period. -- Honestly those prices aren't bad at all for "the densest metropolis in the world", especially considering the excellent transportation and other infrastructure that remove the need for cars (and they have cheap healthcare/etc by US standards as well). That is for 1k-3k sq-ft detached family homes, so that's not $300k for a shoebox, that's $300k for an average home by western standards. Undoubtedly some difference in materials/etc but it's not uncommon to see houses going for $750k-1m in 2nd-tier or 3rd-tier tech cities in the city proper and $500k+ on the outskirts. The bigger factor, by US standards, is that salaries are much lower, obviously that is a much bigger number if you're making $50k a year at the peak of your career, but again, with US housing prices generally being 2-4x japanese prices, it probably ends up being similar-ish. I have a friend that was subletting a room who got the boot because the owner was selling, got $750k for an average single-family home in a second-tier or third-tier city with insane tax rates.