4 ms·

Making property not a form of investment is a feature not a bug. See the article about Tokyo a few days ago for example (how rent is relatively affordable & Jap

by ido 4y ago

Making property not a form of investment is a feature not a bug. See the article about Tokyo a few days ago for example (how rent is relatively affordable & Japanese don’t expect home value to hold).

robocat 4y ago
Japan is hardly a great example. “Japanese Government Is Selling Houses for $500”, “There are more than 8 million empty homes in rural Japan”, “Housing stock in Japan. 62.41m”, “Vacancy rate of dwellings in Japan. 13.6%”.
- rippercushions 4y ago
  That's due to rural depopulation, which is a rather different problem from lack of housing in desirable cities. And Japan has, more or less, solved the housing affordability problem in cities too.
  - robocat 4y ago
    Well Japan’s population is decreasing at 0.5% per year at present. It is pointless trying to compare a country with population growth against a country (like Japan) where housing availability is increasing due to population decline.
    - ido 4y ago
      Greater Tokyo's population is increasing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo#Demographics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo#Demographics It has not had a decrease in population since 1995 and the latest data point (2020) shows an increase of +3.5% compared to 2015.
- ido 4y ago
  Not in Tokyo - which what I was talking about! You can say the same about Germany (and probably most western countries) - vast rural (or depressed urban) areas are depopulating because people move to Berlin/Munich/Hamburg/Frankfurt/etc. And yet Japan solved affordable housing to a much greater extent than us.
  - robocat 4y ago
    But watch the dynamics in New Zealand: retirees sell up in expensive places and retire to cheap places. That is the driver for house prices in lots of places outside of Auckland? The same thing must happen with retirees moving away from Tokyo?
    - ido 4y ago
      Japanese invest in other things not in their housing (as housing is cheap, they can). Also I believe retirees do not as a rule move away from Tokyo? Here in Germany it's neither expected nor common for people to leave the cities they live in when they retire.
    - skhr0680 4y ago
      It’s common for urban Japanese to have a big old family home waiting for them in the countryside when they retire.

by ido 4y ago

robocat 4y ago

Japan is hardly a great example. “Japanese Government Is Selling Houses for $500”, “There are more than 8 million empty homes in rural Japan”, “Housing stock in Japan. 62.41m”, “Vacancy rate of dwellings in Japan. 13.6%”.

rippercushions 4y ago
That's due to rural depopulation, which is a rather different problem from lack of housing in desirable cities. And Japan has, more or less, solved the housing affordability problem in cities too.
- robocat 4y ago
  Well Japan’s population is decreasing at 0.5% per year at present. It is pointless trying to compare a country with population growth against a country (like Japan) where housing availability is increasing due to population decline.
  - ido 4y ago
    Greater Tokyo's population is increasing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo#Demographics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo#Demographics It has not had a decrease in population since 1995 and the latest data point (2020) shows an increase of +3.5% compared to 2015.
ido 4y ago
Not in Tokyo - which what I was talking about! You can say the same about Germany (and probably most western countries) - vast rural (or depressed urban) areas are depopulating because people move to Berlin/Munich/Hamburg/Frankfurt/etc. And yet Japan solved affordable housing to a much greater extent than us.
- robocat 4y ago
  But watch the dynamics in New Zealand: retirees sell up in expensive places and retire to cheap places. That is the driver for house prices in lots of places outside of Auckland? The same thing must happen with retirees moving away from Tokyo?
  - ido 4y ago
    Japanese invest in other things not in their housing (as housing is cheap, they can). Also I believe retirees do not as a rule move away from Tokyo? Here in Germany it's neither expected nor common for people to leave the cities they live in when they retire.
  - skhr0680 4y ago
    It’s common for urban Japanese to have a big old family home waiting for them in the countryside when they retire.