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Isn’t it a bad investment in Japan because declining north rates mean there is less demand?
What started the decline was a very high base rate, IMO. Prices at the peak around 1990 were unsustainable. There was a popular saying at the time that the theoretical land value of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo was greater than the land value of the entire state of California.
Now that's it's been a bad investment for 30 years, people don't speculate the same way they do here.
The real population decline in Japan hasn't even gotten started yet! Japan has about the same population today as it did in 1990. The current population of 123.5 million is only down slightly from the peak of 128 million reached in 2009, but the pace will accelerate from here.
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It's a bad investment in Japan because their zoning system makes it very easy to build new houses. Indeed building new houses is a cultural norm, and houses are considered temporary occupiers of land rather than permanent features. Buy an old house? Chances are you'll knock it down and replace it.
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