Most of those houses are sitting in small cities outside the main urban areas of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, etc. Central Tokyo is home to 13 million people in an area of 619 km². Compare that to Sydney's urban land area of 1,788 km².
Secondly, Japanese homes are estimated to last 30 years before becoming worthless.
And yet look at how densely it's populated in it's cities.
The other thing you had to have noticed is despite all the talk about japan having economic woes, the view on the ground doesn't support this at all.
Very densely populated, indeed... yet, a number of large parks to enjoy.
I saw little evidence of their economic woes... not that I was in a position to forensically examine the cities, and we specifically avoided the fukushima area, which, I have no doubt, is still suffering. Shoppers everywhere, workers everywhere... certainly appeared to be very busy... as opposed to much of America when we were traveling through it post GFC.
Very densely populated, indeed... yet, a number of large parks to enjoy.
I saw little evidence of their economic woes... not that I was in a position to forensically examine the cities, and we specifically avoided the fukushima area, which, I have no doubt, is still suffering. Shoppers everywhere, workers everywhere... certainly appeared to be very busy... as opposed to much of America when we were traveling through it post GFC.
Yes, Tokyo has some fantastic open spaces. Within an hour or so, you can be in pristine natural environments too.
Interesting, thanks... we did see empty looking properties away from the capital cities, but it's difficult to judge if a property is in use when the maintenance is sometimes so poor, and they are likely at work when we passed by.
Perhaps, if the taxation system was altered, these would not be left standing ...
"the tax system encourages people to build new homes and keep whatever structures they have on their land, no matter how fragile, unsightly and dangerous. Homeowners pay a mere one-sixth of the standard property tax. This means the property tax, a major revenue source for municipalities, shoots up sixfold when a home is demolished."
There is opportunity for people, rather than problems.. if they look.
Interesting, thanks... we did see empty looking properties away from the capital cities, but it's difficult to judge if a property is in use when the maintenance is sometimes so poor, and they are likely at work when we passed by.
Perhaps, if the taxation system was altered, these would not be left standing ...
"the tax system encourages people to build new homes and keep whatever structures they have on their land, no matter how fragile, unsightly and dangerous. Homeowners pay a mere one-sixth of the standard property tax. This means the property tax, a major revenue source for municipalities, shoots up sixfold when a home is demolished."
There is opportunity for people, rather than problems.. if they look.
Yes sure, if you tax the shit out of something it becomes less desirable and therefore less expensive to buy secondhand, BUT more expensive to hold, and that extra holding cost would soon show up in rents, so the very people we want to help get hurt.
The Japanese housing market won't recover until the population stops falling and begins to rise, but that probably won't happen in our lifetime, the Japanese people have little tolerance for foreigners so immigration on any scale just won't happen.
Sure Tokyo is a huge city, and yes they have a wonderful transport system, but we could too if our governments spent the money on it. Note that Australia is just as urbanised as Japan. LINK
Take risks - if you win you will become wealthy, if you lose you will become wise
Yes sure, if you tax the shit out of something it becomes less desirable and therefore less expensive to buy secondhand, BUT more expensive to hold, and that extra holding cost would soon show up in rents, so the very people we want to help get hurt.
The Japanese housing market won't recover until the population stops falling and begins to rise, but that probably won't happen in our lifetime, the Japanese people have little tolerance for foreigners so immigration on any scale just won't happen.
Sure Tokyo is a huge city, and yes they have a wonderful transport system, but we could too if our governments spent the money on it. Note that Australia is just as urbanised as Japan. LINK
Population is irrelevant. Research shows that the value of many Japanese homes is reduced to zero after approx 30 years. 60% of all Japanese homes were built after 1980, which is an indication of how active construction turnover is. Making assumptions that the Japanese behave like and have the same attitudes as Australians is wrong.
The most destruction to Japanese housing and property values was caused by asset speculation, not population.
Yes sure, if you tax the shit out of something it becomes less desirable and therefore less expensive to buy secondhand, BUT more expensive to hold, and that extra holding cost would soon show up in rents, so the very people we want to help get hurt.
The Japanese housing market won't recover until the population stops falling and begins to rise, but that probably won't happen in our lifetime, the Japanese people have little tolerance for foreigners so immigration on any scale just won't happen.
Sure Tokyo is a huge city, and yes they have a wonderful transport system, but we could too if our governments spent the money on it. Note that Australia is just as urbanised as Japan. LINK
Well, for starters, these are empty houses, so the renters will not be affected if the tax benefit of having an empty house on land is altered.
The Tokyo housing market has been booming for a while, yet population there is not matching the rise, and it seems empty dwellings exist there for similar reasons.
Sure, I would love a great transport system in Australia ... and a unicorn. How much money do you think it would cost the government to construct a transport system in Australia that matches Japan's ? I am always interested to hear such cries as the source of such funds needs to be taxation... who do you propose to extract the money from ?
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