Questions about housing in Japan

I did some looking around about housing in Japan, but it's still quite blurry to me as to how it's in reality there. :?

My questions are:
1) Are there any affordable houses in Japan?
2) Is it possible to buy a house without having to pay money back your whole life if you have a average salary job or a bit higher.
3) What does the average house look like in Japan? Do you have a link with some pictures of it?
4) What does the average house block look like? Do you have some pictures to show of that also?
5) What percentage of the cities buildup in Japan on the average has house blocks?
6) If you buy a affordable house do you almost always have to travel to work 1 hour or more?
7) In what areas are the most affordable houses in Japan that are near cities and not in the middle of nowhere?

*Or is Japan mostly built full with apartments and flats, skyscrapers?

The thing is if I would ever move to Japan then I certainly don't want to live in a apartment or flat for many years and certainly not forever.

If you know the answers to these questions then that would be great.

hey m8, i cant help you much at all. Some other people wil be help you much better, but i try my best.

Houses are hellish expensive :sorry: Affordable house-ing are quite a bit away from the cities where you prob have work, so you'll have to commute a few hours each day. More affordable are appartments and flats. houses are really expensive. Sorry i cant answer much of your questions, as i am a muppet when it comes to housing in japan. So its all basically about money and how much you got of it.

1) Are there any affordable houses in Japan? Yes, but out in the countryside. Waaay out there

2) Is it possible to buy a house without having to pay money back your whole life if you have a average salary job or a bit higher. Depends on the interest rates (I'm not sure) and the price of the house. Probably takes a while unless you save up alot!

3) What does the average house look like in Japan? Do you have a link with some pictures of it?

4) What does the average house block look like? Do you have some pictures to show of that also? As in a block of land? Small.....

5) What percentage of the cities buildup in Japan on the average has house blocks? I'd say that most of the cities are made up of large commerical buildings for a kilometer around mose japanese cities. Outside of that you see apartments and housing blocks. Japanese "cities" are very close together mind you. (ok, for the time being city = trainstation )

6) If you buy a affordable house do you almost always have to travel to work 1 hour or more?Yes. Upwards of 3 hours is not unusal.

7) In what areas are the most affordable houses in Japan that are near cities and not in the middle of nowhere?Depends on the area. I know in Kantou (tokyo) Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa are the places to live.

*Or is Japan mostly built full with apartments and flats, skyscrapers?I'll look up statistics on this late, but it mainly is large aprtment blocks, flats

My questions are:
1) Are there any affordable houses in Japan? depends what you mean by affordable. I had an expat from the US tell me that the price of homes in his area was less than the average for San Francisco, which he quoted as 350,000 USD. Expect to pay that much or more for something quite small is a big city, but that same amount will get you a nicer home further out int he country.
2) Is it possible to buy a house without having to pay money back your whole life if you have a average salary job or a bit higher. this is between you and the bank. Of course if you have a high paying job (we are talking low level executive) you won't spend the rest of your life in debt.
3) What does the average house look like in Japan? Do you have a link with some pictures of it? Took a bit of work to find this picture. No one wants to take pictures of the normal house, because most of the normal houses in all honesty do not look good. They are surrounded by other houses built on on top of the other, and there are always powerlines running around. Since the average modern house is mainly built of plastic, houses are not all that remarkable. See the attached photo though if you wish.
4) What does the average house block look like? Do you have some pictures to show of that also? think of a group of houses like the one in the photo are right next to each other and using up all the avalible land. Often windows will look directly into or onto the neighbors house and everything is very crowded
5) What percentage of the cities buildup in Japan on the average has house blocks? More than most sane city planners would allow, since the concept of city planning seems to be nonexistant here
6) If you buy a affordable house do you almost always have to travel to work 1 hour or more? Depends where you live, but your guess is about right. I would even hazard that you would have to commute even longer
7) In what areas are the most affordable houses in Japan that are near cities and not in the middle of nowhere?anything incovenient to most anything else For sure, stay away from places like Tokyo and Osaka. Any major city is going to be pricey, but land prices further from the economic and industrial centers tend to be lower - out in places like Hokkaido, the Sea of Japan side of Honshu, most all of Shikoku and parts of Kyushu.

*Or is Japan mostly built full with apartments and flats, skyscrapers? since this tends to be the most affordable option in big cities if you don't have the cash and don't want a home that is going to lose its value in about 15 to 20 years, then apartments are the way to go.

Part of the problem with Japanese housing is that the organizations in charge of building and building materials severly limit foreign products, which are almost always better, cheaper, and look better. Prices are kept artificially high and while while quite flashy with lost of bells and whistles, they tend not to last. In my house I can think of maybe 8 major household items (like a bookshelf) not made of plastic made to look like wood. One of them is my cutting board.

Energy-wise, Japanese houses tend to be very inefficent when it comes to heating and cooling, and most walls lack good insulation - again, this is all because of the construction interests like JIS

Not saying you shouldn't give up buying a home in Japan, but just be aware of what your money is getting you.

1) Depends what you mean by affordable. Since many people buy houses than they are obviously affordable to some people. You can get a brand new 4LDK house in the middle of Chiba (about 1 hour from downtown Tokyo) for about Y23,000,000
3) / 4)
Here is a picture of a typical suburban street with modern houses in Japan.
Hatogaya
(The pig is not typical.) Even houses in more rural areas are often packed this close together even though you often find large plots of vacant land right next door. My host-mom explained the details to me but I already forgot -- somehow the system makes it particularly expensive to have larger lots with larger houses. It's not a linear relationship between size & cost like it is in the U.S.

Here's a typical Tokyo neighborhood which has apartments and single-family homes in the same area: Tokyo Neighborhood

From what you guys wrote I conclude that if you want a average Japanese house that is affordable for the average or abit above average salaryman in Japan then you have to look in the areas outside of the economic and industrial centers of Japan.

It still not clear however what percentage of the cities in Japan consist of houses vs other. And if that is a big percentage compared to other cities in let's say western Europe or not.

Thank you Arch, Ewok85, Mandylion and mdchachi for your information on this subject.

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