Over 13% of the homes in Japan are abandoned
A modern Japanese man, working in tech in California, in his late thirties or early forties spoke with his parents back home in Tokyo five years ago about two houses the family owns, which are in desirable areas, well-maintained and currently occupied. The taxes and financing are such that there is no current scenario where the man could own one or both of these homes. It is simply too expensive. None of the people in this vignette are poor, they are all moderately wealthy people, who have fairly substantial income, and some savings.<p>Move the story to California. A three bedroom home in the San Francisco Bay Area, covered by Proposition 13, purchased by ordinary working people with good financial habits, around the 1970 time frame, and a working late-thirties, early forties person with some savings and good financial habits, cannot afford to take the home under almost any circumstances due to property taxes (cost of ownership) and competition for financing (loans not available in practice due to terms).<p>There is a lot of emotion on both sides of the Pacific in each of these cases. Individuals are quick to point fingers at the other individuals. It has been decades in the making, and the situation is not new. Many on both sides of the Pacific are renting at high prices (no accumulated capital) and deferring (or avoiding) having children.