Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
Regarding house value and the bubble - the bubble really has nothing to do with it. The value of buildings did nothing but depreciate LONG before the bubble. It`s been that way since at least the 1960s - likely long before, as one of the big reasons people cite for not wanting to live in a house someone else has lived in is ancestors. Tradition says not to live somewhere a non-relative has put an altar to deceased ancestors. In other words, pretty much any "used" house.
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There's that but Japan is like any other country where supply and demand affect housing prices. With a declining population and thus less demand for housing pricing is unlikely to increase except in isolated highly sought after locations.
I certainly wouldn't want to invest large sums of money into a house when there'd be little likelihood of ever getting at least that amount back when I sold it. This is one reason I guess I find most houses I've been into in Japan to be of a much lesser standard to say houses in Australia where there's a growing population, a shortage of new housing and seemingly almost ever increasing values. Housing there is a real investment and was how I made a fair share of my very modest little fortune over the last 15 years.
I have often wondered how do the Japanese accumulate wealth? Housing isn't a positive investment, the share market for Japanese companies hasn't exactly been performing, interest on saving is almost non existent. How does the average person here get ahead?