America's affordable house of the future failed

Re:America's affordable house of the future failed by nonethewiser on Sunday March 17, 2024 @11:26AM (#39735083)

I imagine Japan’s “view” on housing is downstream of macroeconomic conditions like deflation and population decline. Ie, houses don’t appreciate much in price therefore people dont look at them like investments, not the other way around.

In support of this is China, where there are similar cultural views about “used” homes being undesirable. Yet (to this point) prices have appreciated and they have used them as investment vehicles.

To put it another way, would Japanese homes really depreciate with rapid population and economic growth? There is just no way.

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Re:America's affordable house of the future failed by davidw on Sunday March 17, 2024 @11:34AM (#39735152)

It's true even for cities like Tokyo that are still attracting people despite the population of the country declining.

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Re:America's affordable house of the future failed by ghaff on Sunday March 17, 2024 @11:50AM (#39735274)

Things probably get baked into culture and practices even in situations where they aren't really optimal.

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Re:America's affordable house of the future failed by davidw on Sunday March 17, 2024 @12:38PM (#39735663)

What we have in the US is far from optimal. In many 'hot' markets during the recent runup in prices, houses were "making" more money in a year than the median household earned. That's a recipe for a whole host of problems.

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Re:America's affordable house of the future failed by nonethewiser on Monday March 18, 2024 @09:58AM (#39744616)

I believe Tokyo requires demolition after a certain amount of time or ownership change right? Not entirely sure, and Ive also seen some info that suggest real estate has appreciated in Tokyo lately.

Point being maybe its demographics and regulation, with a cultural attitude that jives with it and even explains the regulation to demolish, but not attitude being operative.

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Re:America's affordable house of the future failed by bryanlarsen on Sunday March 17, 2024 @05:37PM (#39738273)

From what I hear this attitude is centuries old, far predating demographic decline. Traditionally Japanese homes had paper walls and were expected to be damaged by their frequent earth quakes. Fires were also frequent. They were not expected to last.

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Re:America's affordable house of the future failed by nonethewiser on Monday March 18, 2024 @09:55AM (#39744568)

I dont doubt the attitude is older, I doubt that its the operative factor.

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