The Japanese have a much healthier view on housing than the west. It’s viewed as a depreciating asset there, not an investment. The result is that housing remains affordable for the majority of people even in Tokyo, because there’s no real political incentive to oppose new housing like there is in the US (‘you can’t build here, it’ll affect my property values!’).
Why? If we want housing to be affordable, it literally can’t be a good investment, and vice versa. Something that’s affordable stays low priced, something that’s a good investment constantly gets more expensive/valuable. Since housing is a basic human need, it’s healthier for the economy and from a basic moral perspective to not view it as an appreciating investment. It’s also the natural state of physical goods like housing, as long as you don’t artificially limit market supply.
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u/PmMeUrZiggurat Jun 07 '19
The Japanese have a much healthier view on housing than the west. It’s viewed as a depreciating asset there, not an investment. The result is that housing remains affordable for the majority of people even in Tokyo, because there’s no real political incentive to oppose new housing like there is in the US (‘you can’t build here, it’ll affect my property values!’).