An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
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Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#2By contrast consider Conor Dougherty's Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Gates-Fighting-Housing-America..., which is about how California in particular works hard to raise the cost of housing.
Places like Seattle are a little better, with an emphasis on "little." https://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/24/do-millennials-have-a-fut...
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#3Zoning is important, but let’s also remember that single-family housing isn’t really a speculative investment vehicle in Japan like it is here.
You can either have private equity buying up foreclosed homes and house flipping tv shows or housing being used as housing that most people can afford. America chooses the former, Japan, the latter.
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#4> The first thing to note is that in Japan, housing isn’t an investment. It’s a place to live. The country’s slow population growth means that increases in property values aren’t guaranteed
I feel like this is a misleading way to put it. Japanese houses decrease in value, generally quite severely - the conventional wisdom is that after a few decades you might as well just tear it down and build a new one. So there's very real option value you're losing in the Japanese model; if you have to move in a decade or two, you won't be able to get back the equity you put in.
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#5> The first thing to note is that in Japan, housing isn’t an investment. It’s a place to live. The country’s slow population growth means that increases in property values aren’t guaranteed I feel like this is a misleading way to put it. Japanese houses decrease in value, generally quite severely - the conventional wisdom is that after a few decades you might as well just tear it down and build a new one. So there's…
A big component of this is that building codes aren’t really enforced for the construction of single-family housing in Japan. Even if you wanted to buy a used home, you run the risk that shoddy construction could put you at serious danger in the event of the country’s not-so-infrequent natural disasters. This is one reason why most people tear down and rebuild.
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#6> The first thing to note is that in Japan, housing isn’t an investment. It’s a place to live. The country’s slow population growth means that increases in property values aren’t guaranteed I feel like this is a misleading way to put it. Japanese houses decrease in value, generally quite severely - the conventional wisdom is that after a few decades you might as well just tear it down and build a new one. So there's…
A big component of this is that building codes aren’t really enforced for the construction of single-family housing in Japan. Even if you wanted to buy a used home, you run the risk that shoddy construction could put you at serious danger in the event of the country’s not-so-infrequent natural disasters. This is one reason why most people tear down and rebuild.
So people rebuild houses just in case for a not-so-frequent natural disaster? Or are there other reasons too?
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#7> The first thing to note is that in Japan, housing isn’t an investment. It’s a place to live. The country’s slow population growth means that increases in property values aren’t guaranteed I feel like this is a misleading way to put it. Japanese houses decrease in value, generally quite severely - the conventional wisdom is that after a few decades you might as well just tear it down and build a new one. So there's…
A big component of this is that building codes aren’t really enforced for the construction of single-family housing in Japan. Even if you wanted to buy a used home, you run the risk that shoddy construction could put you at serious danger in the event of the country’s not-so-infrequent natural disasters. This is one reason why most people tear down and rebuild.
A good percentage of new homes I've seen in the last 30 years here in America are barely a step above that in quality. Most of them aren't outright dangerous, but they certainly aren't top quality.
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#8This article is citing another article from the same source [1]
"The typical Tokyo metro area starter home would be an apartment (around 750 square feet) or detached wooden house (around 970 square feet) located in the outer suburbs. According to Zoe Ward of Japan Property Central, the average Tokyo office worker has about a one-hour commute by train each morning."
So part of the answer is that homes are tiny by American standards, and it's not actually in Tokyo proper.
[1] https://www.curbed.com/2016/6/21/11946606/starter-homes-swed...
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#9I think this headline is misleading in 2 ways.
1. yes you might get a house at this price but it's either 1-2 hours out of the city center (which is fine, just saying Tokyo is large.) Or alternatively it's in bad neighborhoods. (bad is relative if you are from the US)
2. your house will most likely look like this: https://www.ii-ie2.net/dat/5ba1164d.jpg
Sayonara sunlight, hello neighbor.
here are listings: https://www.homes.co.jp/smp/kodate/shinchiku/tokyo/list/
there are nice ones in the list. I am just saying that this is the eastern country side of Tokyo (check the map) when the title probably makes everyone think something different.
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
A big component of this is that building codes aren’t really enforced for the construction of single-family housing in Japan. Even if you wanted to buy a used home, you run the risk that shoddy construction could put you at serious danger in the event of the country’s not-so-infrequent natural disasters. This is one reason why most people tear down and rebuild.
So people rebuild houses just in case for a not-so-frequent natural disaster? Or are there other reasons too?
Yeah there are other reasons, from related insurance concerns to cultural/quasi-spiritual beliefs that old homes acquire the “fortunes” of their previous owners. Also, said lack of building code enforcement, makes new home construction cheaper, faster, and more plentiful.
But there are also A LOT of earthquakes, typhoons, and floods in Japan, so it’s not exactly a minor concern either, especially when houses are typically seen as something you buy for life.