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03-09-2008, 05:44 AM
Out of the city and into the country the prices drop dramatically, I would whole-heartedly agree. She said she wanted a house in Yokohama, the second biggest city in Japan and a short distance from Tokyo, the most expensive city in maybe the most expensive country in the world.
Four out of five homes bought in America are "used". In Japan this number is the opposite. The reason is (according to the book Saying Yes to Japan) is that building contractors have lobbied the Japanese Parliament into taxing the purchase of a used home through the roof. A 1000δΈ‡ asking price is before the taxes you have to pay to purchase and sell a used home.
A friend of mine's home was damaged in the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. It was monumentally cheaper for them to basically live in a hotel for 2 months and hire contractors to rebuild their house from scratch than it was to purchase a used home.
So, yes, I would not argue there aren't homes for 100,000 USD in Japan, but she was asking about Yokohama, for which I would say "Good luck".
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