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Japan changed it. They passed sweeping zoning reform that made it easy to build and prices went down. New Zealand just passed sweeping reform to address their h
by namlem 4y ago
Japan changed it. They passed sweeping zoning reform that made it easy to build and prices went down. New Zealand just passed sweeping reform to address their housing crisis as well. Reforms are being passed in the US too. Oregon, California, Minneapolis, Ann Arbor, and others have started to pass reforms.
- nemo44x 4y ago> Japan changed it. They passed sweeping zoning reform that made it easy to build and prices went down Japanese homes are generally prefabricated and have a lifespan of 20-30 years before they are disposed of and a new prefabricated home is put in its place. This is why housing is "cheap" in Japan.
- stefan_ 4y agoFucking fantastic, sign me up for it. In the west we instead pay luxury hotel rent for creaking shit homes built 100 years ago, post-war-haste cheap. Because you know none of it actually pays for the building, it's just all for the artificial scarcity.
- nemo44x 4y ago> Because you know none of it actually pays for the building, it's just all for the artificial scarcity. It depends on the quality you want for the build. There are homes being built today that use premium materials and the materials are expensive. You can easily spend $50k on windows, for example. Of course, lower end construction that price drops to like $10k. You can buy prefabricated homes in the USA but it would be cool if "trailer" wasn't the only option. I don't think many people in the West would feel comfortable in a Japanese home though.
- resoluteteeth 4y ago> This is why housing is "cheap" in Japan. This doesn't explain why rent for apartments is cheaper in Tokyo than in the greater metropolitan area of similar cities in other countries like the US.