Japan has relatively cheaper real estate because of their lax zoning laws and frequent earthquakes drive the long term value of construction down. Everywhere else in Asia with similar laws people do pour their savings into real estate.

It dosen't really have anything to do with what you are saying because the Nikkei underperformed relative to FTSE or S&P 500.

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k__ 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

Better laws/incentives could still pull people out of the housing market.

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FirmwareBurner 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

>Everywhere else in Asia with similar laws people do pour their savings into real estate.

Isn't this because most of Asia has just copied the western capitalist housing asset monetisation scheme with Japan being the only exception?

	▲	kiba 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		What do you mean by monenization scheme? Land are worth something because it's undertaxed. If you tax land high enough, the price of land is zero. This means you don't have to take out a loan to buy the land, but maybe you need to do so for the building. Lands in cities are often high enough that they exceed the value of buildings. So, land price being zero save you money up-front, but you have to pay higher taxes on the land. The improvements are naturally depreciating assets. Your house, much like your car, fall apart over time without maintenance. Ideally, you aren't taxed on improvements. So, in a properly functioning market, you can buy property, but it's depreciating in price all the time, while you are left with a tax bill on the land. Each time, land value roses, you are left with a higher tax bill every year.