alt Hacker NewsIt didn't. But it's entering one now.
New apartment prices in Tokyo are double what they were a few years ago. [1] The reason is foreign investors buying up loads of properties and sitting on them or turning them into AirBNBs. Locals can't afford them because wages aren't increasing. The concept of buying a property to resell it also isn't a thing amongst locals, so it's clueless rich people and corporations buying up properties and thinking they can flip them, which won't be happening any time soon.
But after a few years of squeezing, locals may have no choice but to pay their entire paycheck to foreign investors. Though thankfully the government is planning to take steps to potentially outlaw foreign buyers. If we're lucky, and some parties get their way, they might just strip the properties from them. If you're not living here, you have no business owning dozens of homes.
[1] https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUC183D80Y4A110C2000000/
Replies
> it's clueless rich people and corporations buying up properties and thinking they can flip them
so the original owner got a nice priced deal out of the sale. Then, when said clueless rich person decides to sell in the future due to being unable to hold on to it any more, they make a loss (which is a gain for that future buyer, whoever they are).
> after a few years of squeezing, locals may have no choice but to pay their entire paycheck to foreign investors
why the squeeze? If the airBNB is being occupied, then it simply means the price for the rental was correct, and it was artificially low before (due to the demand not being met for short term stays).
My shallow experience of Japan tells me that if there's one country that can regulate the shit of the airbnb problem, it's this one. We're so used in the west to see properties as an asset that only appreciates that we've lost sight of what homes are meant to be. Meanwhile the whole Mediterranean coast is being bought by foreigners with the help of greedy local fucks. I've been told the Portuguese have it much worse even.