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Tokyo is pretty famous for building something like 'enough'. Vienna has a pretty good housing story. The interest rates in most of the world are bad for would

by davidw 3y ago

Tokyo is pretty famous for building something like 'enough'. Vienna has a pretty good housing story. The interest rates in most of the world are bad for would-be homebuyers across the board, though. The US has a lot of 'low hanging fruit' in terms of being able to get rid of a lot of onerous zoning that could really make a dent in the housing supply. And we've seen a fair amount of progress in the short time frame that YIMBY groups have been a thing.

linguae 3y ago
Interest rates in Japan are still very low, though if you're thinking about moving to Japan, it is difficult for foreigners to get mortgages through Japanese banks unless they have permanent residency or have a Japanese spouse, though I've heard of some banks offering mortgages to those who lived in the country for at least two years. Who knows what interest rates in Japan will be in two years, though; the yen has weakened noticeably against the dollar since 2022 when the Federal Reserve started its interest rate hikes, yet the Bank of Japan has continued its low interest policy.
dzhiurgis 3y ago
Japanese property is famously cheap for being small, but other factor is land being a 30 year lease. Build same size + on land you buy and it will be more expensive despite efficiencies of large domestic market.
seanmcdirmid 3y ago
> Tokyo is pretty famous for building something like 'enough'. Tokyo builds a lot because they tear down homes after 30-40 years to rebuild them. You can't judge Tokyo's property market by new housing starts, and the fact that housing depreciates (rather than appreciates) scares away all the speculators.
- drt5b7j 3y ago
  Wait what? There's a lot there, tell us more. Why do they rebuild every 30 years?
  - phs318u 3y ago
    https://web.archive.org/web/20230917073306/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/11/opinion/editorials/tokyo-housing.html https://web.archive.org/web/20230917073306/https://www.nytim... In Japan, the real estate system is designed to ensure affordability of homes. In Australia, the real estate system is designed to encourage and maximise real estate investment as a no-effort wealth multiplier for (literal) rent-seekers. See for example the policy of "negative gearing" where the tax system subsidises those buying investment properties. Those that took advantage are such a powerful block that no politician of any stripe has the gumption to sunset this policy.
    - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
      That’s only true after Japan’s massive property bubble crashed. Before that housing was as unaffordable as it currently is in China.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    https://japanpropertycentral.com/2014/02/understanding-the-lifespan-of-a-japanese-home-or-apartment/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Ministry%20of,it%20is%20around%2037%20years https://japanpropertycentral.com/2014/02/understanding-the-l....
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    See the link I posted. The average age for a house before rebuild is 27 years old.

by davidw 3y ago

linguae 3y ago

Interest rates in Japan are still very low, though if you're thinking about moving to Japan, it is difficult for foreigners to get mortgages through Japanese banks unless they have permanent residency or have a Japanese spouse, though I've heard of some banks offering mortgages to those who lived in the country for at least two years. Who knows what interest rates in Japan will be in two years, though; the yen has weakened noticeably against the dollar since 2022 when the Federal Reserve started its interest rate hikes, yet the Bank of Japan has continued its low interest policy.

dzhiurgis 3y ago

Japanese property is famously cheap for being small, but other factor is land being a 30 year lease. Build same size + on land you buy and it will be more expensive despite efficiencies of large domestic market.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago

> Tokyo is pretty famous for building something like 'enough'. Tokyo builds a lot because they tear down homes after 30-40 years to rebuild them. You can't judge Tokyo's property market by new housing starts, and the fact that housing depreciates (rather than appreciates) scares away all the speculators.

drt5b7j 3y ago
Wait what? There's a lot there, tell us more. Why do they rebuild every 30 years?
- phs318u 3y ago
  https://web.archive.org/web/20230917073306/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/11/opinion/editorials/tokyo-housing.html https://web.archive.org/web/20230917073306/https://www.nytim... In Japan, the real estate system is designed to ensure affordability of homes. In Australia, the real estate system is designed to encourage and maximise real estate investment as a no-effort wealth multiplier for (literal) rent-seekers. See for example the policy of "negative gearing" where the tax system subsidises those buying investment properties. Those that took advantage are such a powerful block that no politician of any stripe has the gumption to sunset this policy.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    That’s only true after Japan’s massive property bubble crashed. Before that housing was as unaffordable as it currently is in China.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  https://japanpropertycentral.com/2014/02/understanding-the-lifespan-of-a-japanese-home-or-apartment/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Ministry%20of,it%20is%20around%2037%20years https://japanpropertycentral.com/2014/02/understanding-the-l....
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  See the link I posted. The average age for a house before rebuild is 27 years old.