Politics Should Japan restrict foreign ownership of residential property?

[thomas]

With the Upper House election looming on 20 July, party leaders in Japan have discussed the potential need for restrictions on foreign property ownership. In light of sharply rising housing costs—particularly in Tokyo, where the price of secondhand condominiums has surpassed 100 million yen—seven of the eight major political parties voiced support for introducing some form of regulation targeting foreign buyers.

Interestingly, only the Japanese Communist Party opposed the idea of restricting foreign buyers, with its chair, Tamura, arguing that the real issue lies in speculative investment itself, rather than the nationality of the investor.

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Seven of the eight parties voiced support for some level of restriction. Liberal Democratic Party leader Ishiba acknowledged that speculation in real estate, whether by foreigners or Japanese nationals, is problematic and emphasized the need to urgently assess the situation while referencing international legal frameworks. Constitutional Democratic Party leader Noda supported the idea of reciprocal arrangements but stressed that areas near critical national infrastructure should be subject to independent regulations for security reasons. Japan Innovation Party leader Yoshimura argued that there is a clear imbalance since Japanese nationals cannot buy land in China, yet Chinese buyers face no such limitations in Japan. He insisted that Japan should establish equal conditions.

Should Foreigners Be Restricted from Buying Homes in Japan?

As Japan

newsonjapan.com

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Maine has had a problem with China buying up houses and using them to grow pot which seems very strange to me. Police have busted several houses here with their high electricity use giving them away.

 

[Lothor]

I'm all for restricting property ownership to residents to reduce property speculation, which is a cancer of modern society, as the JCP rightly note.

However, let's not forget that property speculation is also a domestic problem. House prices in parts of the UK and US have rocketed in the past few years because of large companies buying up housing stock then renting it out at extortionate prices. And I'm sure that plenty of well-heeled Japanese people who 'want their money to work harder' are doing the same thing.

 

[Lothor]

And right on cue, here's an article about the parasites who are making housing unaffordable and fuelling resentment and far-right parties in Europe and the US. Across Europe, the financial sector has pushed up house prices. It's a political timebomb | Tim White

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Here in the Boston area, I know that when my wife and I were looking to buy a property there were wealthy Chinese people who would buy a lot of the places we were looking at for their college-aged kids to live in while studying. I know because my wife gave me a window into their discussions. (Be careful when speaking a language you think no one understands. Someone always does!)

I've heard of wealthy Chinese people buying a lot of property in Canada, thus driving up the prices there, too.

And my first wife in Japan told me stories about people she knew whose Chinese husband would buy them a house upon marriage. I still think one of the reasons that marriage didn't work out for me is that I didn't buy her a house right away.