The Housing Market and Housing Policies in Japan

38 Pages Posted: 22 Mar 2016

See all articles by Masahiro Kobayashi

Masahiro Kobayashi

Government of Japan - International Affairs; Government of Japan - Corporate Strategy Department

Date Written: March 22, 2016

Abstract

Housing policies in Japan after World War II were focused on the quantitative supply of houses with a wide range of targeted groups and public rental houses. The Japan Housing Corporation (now the Urban Renaissance Agency) and the Government Housing Loan Corporation (now the Japan Housing Finance Agency) have served to address these policy targets accordingly. The restoration of housing stock was successful, but the collapse of the property bubble in the early 1990s caused negative impact on the real economy and created persistent loss of confidence among the Japanese people, which is exacerbated by deflation and negative demographic factors (decrease of the population and aging of society). Enhancement of the quality of houses is an important part of the housing policy in Japan, but, at the same time, there needs to be a balance between new construction and the activation of existing housing stocks. Given the social experiments currently underway, there is need to closely monitor the changes of market trends.

Keywords: Japan housing policy, housing stock, property bubble, Japan Housing Finance Agency

JEL Classification: R14, R21, R31, R38

Suggested Citation

Kobayashi, Masahiro, The Housing Market and Housing Policies in Japan (March 22, 2016). ADBI Working Paper 558, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2752868 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2752868

Masahiro Kobayashi (Contact Author)

Government of Japan - International Affairs ( email )

Tokyo
Japan

Government of Japan - Corporate Strategy Department ( email )

Tokyo
Japan

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