The foreigner real estate parasites in Japan! 

Foreign buyers have contributed significantly to the ruination of Australia. Rampant speculation has made Australian real estate one of the best investments in the world, with nothing to support it apart from everyone below you on the pyramid.

Japan is making a mistake letting foreigners purchase homes there. The reason Japan is nice is because its a homogeneous society and people are raised to respect each other and their surroundings. The west has destroyed itself with diversity. Visist japan and you can see the difference with foreign tourist, especially chinese tourist, and the Japanese population.

Same in Germany, we earn a decent salary but are being priced out of moving into a bigger flat(we’d need to sacrifice our ability to safe up money) and buying houses or flats is getting unaffordable:(

The Japanese government needs to maintain control over foreign property ownership in Japan. We had and perhaps still have an issue with foreign land banking in New Zealand. There was no official data on who was purchasing property, and it was tough for locals to enter the market because of a lack of capital.

I started looking at Japan travel vids in prep for a short holiday next year and was really surprised by how many westerners have channels basically treating the place like an eccentric theme park, buying up properties to set up air bnbs they don’t even live in and basically treating the crash in the Yen as an opportunity to greedily gobble up cheap housing with no regard for the community or locals. Doesn’t seem to be any respect for the place as being a fragile eco system of family ties and generational bonds of belonging that might be harmed by the arrival of masses of newcomers. Kind of disappointing given how much of the west has been destroyed by foreigners sweeping up our own properties and moving in without regard for the locals. They should know better. I hope Japan takes a hardline stance against this opportunistic grab. I remember the hardship of the economic downturn in 2009 and how awful it felt to see foreigners using it as a lucrative opportunity to make money. It’s kind of sick when you think about it.

I got priced out of the Vancouver home market, couldn't keep up. Moved to Asia but everywhere I go, house prices keep skyrocketing. Guess Japan is the last frontier.

We've had this in Ireland since independence to one extent or another. At first Americans and Europeans were the buyers, now Corporations, Indians, Chinese, Aussies, Canadians Etc basically the whole world are the buyers. Ireland has no laws against anyone buying property here. Thats why something like 50-60% of home buyers last year were foreigners. Unlike Japan Ireland is at the extreme of this. Either something changes or its over. I mean ffs 21.82% of Irelands population were not born here(2022 census results - it's only gotten bigger since then). In the end its like 30% or more of the population isn't Irish. For reference in Ireland the population was approx 98% Irish 26 years ago.

We thought about buying a cheap house in Japan, but it seems like more trouble than it’s worth in the long run. And I worry that the novelty will eventually fade and I’d be stuck with a money pit.

for my house in Oregon, US, I was bidding against a corporation. The next step is instead of individuals buying up stuff, corps do. House flipping as an industry. I'm guilty of half doing this, I can only afford my home by renting out rooms to other people, but I also live in it, similar to a share house in Japan. It's too bad houses can't just be treated as places to live instead of investments.

We can really barely hear your audio.

I wouldn't worry about it they all gonna get a shock when they realise houses go down here and decay. Tokyo builds more houses than London Paris new York combined. Westerners don't build new houses and import millions of immigrants and it drives the prices up. Outside of Tokyo I wouldn't worry. With the declining population. A lot of foreigners are gonna lose money on these.

Greedy landlords are world wide issue.Prices get spiked because foreigners are coming more and more with zero care for locals that cant affort rent anymore.

The countrysides in Japan are quite literally dying out... this notion that "foreign investors" are gonna drive people out is a bit silly no? The properties are rotting and empty because people already moved out years or decades ago and continue to do so.... but yea with all the struggle Japan is already in lets add in limiting or removing foreign investments aswell

See it here in Tokyo and Yokohama, kind of annoying because it ruins the chances for local people to get a house at a reasonable price. Kyoto is already insane.

Thanks for video

this is the fear of my fellow countrymen. foreigners buying up land, artificially raising property prices then no locals are able to own any houses anymore. the shortsightedness is so bad. my government is trying to make foreign land ownership legal in my country and i am against this.

I do hope Japan is successful with revitalising the countryside. Need to get those Tokyoite salarymen & women into the babymaking phase! Regarding foreign parasite landowners, I think it will be a relatively shortlived thing. Once they figure out house prices fall over time they'll soon pack up and leave. In fact I'd say the reason they're making videos on the subject is to try and minimise their losses. Or maybe this is just my wishful thinking... There was an article I read about the Japanese getting uppity with all the Chinese investment into city real estate, so they might even stop foreigners from purchasing property altogether. I'd like to think there could still be a route for those with permanent residence tho.

This is such a disappointing reality for many of us that just want to own a home in our home country. Investors, whether individuals or businesses, have been buying homes in cash because they have the capital, do a short rehab on them and then sell them for an amount out of reach of most locals. The Californians have infected anywhere near their state and have ruined the local communities with their voting and their habits (drugs, crime, horrible driving, rudeness). It's destroyed the local community because the don't participate at all on the local level other than to force laws to change for them. I used to make a decent salary a few years ago, but even with some minor raises, I might not ever be able to afford a home in the place I was raised because of the insane inflation and the bigger gap between the wealthy and the middle class. Their needs to be legislation made that businesses cannot own homes and that individuals and their immediate family cannot own too many homes. Making a huge profit from basic needs (like a place to live) is disgusting.

As someone who rents out apartments it’s not the done thing in Japan to increase rents for sitting tenants. I wish I could as my management fees are increasing. It takes a market with a high turnover to have rising rents.

It's happening everywhere. Affordable older starter homes are getting absurdly priced and new homes are huge near mansions for $1.5m+ USD in the northeast. I cannot afford to move out my starter home so I stay here. The taxes and other service costs are slowly creeping up and the quality of life in my area is slowly going down (i.e. the road are very subpar). I'll probably have to move to a different region of the country to retire or if I need to change jobs for whatever reason before I retire I'll probably have to change regions.

way too much road noise

With all due respect I think your a bit off base with this. Japan is dying from their population collapse, and the young people dont want to live in the countryside. There is also problems with large inheritance taxes that the Japanese dont want to pay that contributes to the problem. Please keep in mind that Japan owned large parts of the USA in the 80s until the bubble collapse. Also, foreign investment into real estate markets often provide a lifeline to communities who desperately need it.

Can you get a different microphone? Really having a hard time hearing you in the car.

Why do foreigners want to buy property in Japan when it loses value?

People, shouldnt be allowed to own more than 2 houses imho. Way too many landlord empires out there

Back in the mid 90s, I taught English in a small city in Hokkaido. Nearby were the cities of Kutchan and Niseko, home to a couple of ski areas. Back then, I was always astounded that there were cities near ski areas weren't stuffed with condos and vacation houses that were only occupied a few weeks a year and that normal people with normal jobs could afford to live there. Here in Colorado, any town near a ski area is hideously expensive and the folks who work in the shops, restaurants, and ski areas have to commute from miles away. From what I've heard, that is rapidly becoming the case in Kutchan and Niseko. Rich foreigners are buying up everything and the locals are getting priced out!

Early next year i plan to expand my rural Japan cafe to include rescuing stray cats in my area to turn it into a unique Cat Cafe. Any help is very much appreciated. www.buymeacoffee.com/realruraljapan

What you said about investors being more of a rentier class, sucking up incomes and driving rents up, and not contributing in any meaningful sense to the economy, if not even being a burden to the economy is straight out of Adam Smith's "The wealth of nations," one of the most important texts in the development of modern capitalism. I would say as much as I would wholly like to blame investors, it is really the "mom and pop" landlords and investors, who behave often in wildly irrational ways and contribute to the unaccountable speculation, which big firms love to take advantage of, because in the end, it raises their margins.

I get it but there is worse. Us they dont buy they only take and destroy having the audacity to claim they are victims

This channel is underrated. I like that you bring this topic up, I don't think this will blow up as badly as say in western countries but it does have a significant negative impact on smaller communities like you mentioned in the video. With federal interest rates starting to go up and possibly mortgage rates, we may see a small decline in people taking out loans to buy houses in urban areas simply because they will be priced out. I see new houses in my area selling for much higher than when I bought it back in 2021. Used manshon prices are definitely insane in my opinion as you could get a much better house for the price but urban dwellers love their manshons so the demand is still higher. Luckily Japanese aren't idiots so you will see them take less risks with their money. Much of the newer houses selling around me tend to be vacant for periods of up to 16 months or longer. They are then forced to slash prices before a buyer is willing to take the offer. No one wants to buy these inflated prices and those who sell products/ services with price increases will soon feel the damage that is the Japanese shufu who is a professional belt tightener.

Chinese are buying the expensive condos in Tokyo

Your comments about the Rentier class are very true. Unfortunately, it's often like a tidal wave that's hard to stop.

I am really glad you are talking about this topic because it would break my heart to see what's happened to my city (Toronto) happen to Japan. Without regulation and awareness of this trend, I feel they will also fall victim to it within a short period of time. The tiktok channels and insta accounts that promote the "akiya gold rush" do not help this situation one bit and I doubt the people who hold these social media accounts care about the consequences.

Do you think requiring permanent residence for property ownership would help? Or something like legally declaring intent to become resident in X years and if not, you lose the property.

Call me a socialist but I think it should be illegal to purchase residential property as an investment. I've had people question me why I don't invest in properties and then I explain that people doing this is the exact reason why ordinary people can't afford to buy houses anymore, and then they tense up and say "it's just a small thing, can't have that big of an effect." It's not just the house prices - a lot of house sales cater only to investors now and will outright refuse you if you intend to live there. It's frankly disgusting and seeing the low Japanese prices for new houses outside Tokyo makes you realise how bad it's gotten in the west. I will be very sad if Japan succumbs to the same fate, but I am hopeful that Japan's natural catastrophes and culture will stop that from happening.

Vultures! FYI, there was a clonking sound for most of the video, otherwise interesting topic!

I want japan to keep being japan. I don’t agree with the foreigners.

Interesting video and it has given me some food for thought, but I must ask how does one change their living to Japan w/o being a parasite? I am nowhere near a position where I could afford ANY property let alone in a different country and I am slowly learning Japanese.

So true

I'm sorry but you have zero idea how housing markets or housing policy works

Also living in Japan (I talk from a personal experience) is a "form of investment".Some Japanese saw me as a welcome novelty, and some looked at me with dislike. Married to a Japanese.

Have communities thought about a progressive tax system on property. For example if you live in it the tax rate is 0.5 percent but if it's an investment 2nd you pay 3% and if it's a 10 th you pay 10 percent

Genuine Real Estate Investment, as in replacing an existing building with something that is at least nominally better or developing less developed area, is decent & should probably be open to international investment, however, the current rentiering practice of simply buying an existing structure & renting it out should be far more restricted, as other than theoretically maintaining the building the rentier isn't doing anything to benefit anyone & thus the practice ought to be limited as to what the exact limits ought to be is a matter of debate, however, I'd say the absolute minimum eould be requiring that all structures in a country be owned by so entity eithin said country, whether it be individual citizens that reside in the country or a company that is registered within said country, even if it is merely a subsidiary of a foreign entity, as legitimate businesses need cash reseeves, which is less money taken out of the country & is an entity that can be sued & have it's assests seized without needing to other govts to cooperate

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I've lived in Vancouver for 30-odd years. If Japan is going the same way, I feel sorry for the kids. They will never be able to afford to live there - that's what happened here.

Japanese real estate isn't an investment. I still want to buy a 2nd home in Nagano though. It is not easy doing something like that from Australia. Almost impossible I'd say.

Thanks for another great video. I do tend to agree that foreign ownership as you have described will and has destroyed communities in every country and left unabated it will in Japan as well. It is very sad! I'm not sure you can blame the people though...I think the blame rests with the policy makers. I would LOVE to buy in Japan....but I would only do so to live there. I want to be there and spend my money in that economy. Not a day passes that I dont regret moving there to live 20 years ago.

I heard of a great thing Cambodia has. Dont know if true. Foreigners are not allowed to own anything that touches the ground. Meaning they can only buy apartments. I think thats good idea.

Every one uf us knows a gentrifier or two..

Ive noticed since the yen has weakened that there seem to be a craze of people coming to japan and pronoucing themselves as ,"investors" or "entrepreneurs". When in reality theyre poor from their respective countries but somewhat comfortable in japan due to the conversation rate (depending on the currency). No offense, but I think japan is a horrible place to start a buisiness in and to invest into a house yield wise. If i remember, taxes on buinesses are among one of the highest compared to many countries.

This paracite is downvoting your video and reporting it as hatefull speech🤣😂🫡