Real Estate is available in Japan for many investors. Unfortunately, the Japanese real estate market is typically not too hospitable to foreign investors. Many people who wish to invest in it find themselves up against a brick wall when it comes to investing in Japanese real estate. The reason for this is a traditional mistrust of foreigners that seems to be part of the Japanese’s ethnic makeup. There are also a number of subtle nuances involved in Japanese culture that Western’s often fail to understand.
The history of real estate in Japan seems to be a series of bubbles where investors feel confident and invest, and then prices drop and investors lose money. Thus the last bubble has been bursting since the 90′s and the market has yet to recover from that.
In regard to purchasing, the legal system in Japan seems to be the way to get a foothold of Japanes investment properties. Taking advantage of foreclosed properties is often a way to buy cheap real estate in Japan.
Much of the real estate that is available in Japan is high end properties being sold for a million dollars or more. This is particularly true in the big cities. Japan has a mixture of properties though in the super urban and the super rural. Some of the rural properties can be purchased for as little as 20,000 dollars. It is a pre tax investment that shows lots of promise for investors.
The current state of the Japanese real estate market is not healthy, but is showing signs of improvement. The first two quarters of this year have seen an upturn in property prices. They has been an increase in prices since 2011. This may be the first signs of a recovery in the Japanese real estate market. Even though this improvement of real estate in Japan has been slight, it has been enough for corporate investors like Goldman Sachs, Deutsch bank group and Fortress Holdings to begin investing in the Japanese real estate market. However properties in Japan are quite expensive and probably out of the price range of many private would be investors.
Note that the Japanese real estate has been in decline for the past several years prior to 2012. Current properties are currently only worth a fraction of what they were a decade or two ago. However the real estate market seems to be recovering if very slowly. It appears to be mirroring somewhat the trends of the American real estate market which is slow, but may be recovering a bit. If that trend continues in 2012 more and more properties in Japan will open to investors. The mix of investment opportunities continues to attract real estate investors, even though Japan has negative capital growth at the moment.
Many players are finding attractive investments in the rural areas of Japan where the property tends to be quite a bit less expensive. The right set of circumstances can make someone wealthy indeed. So the Japanese real estate varies a lot in price and circumstances. Those who want to find out about the Japanese real estate market and the cost of properties can follow it online. One of the sites that offers information about Japanese real estate is @Real_Estate_Jap on twitter. The Japanese real estate market certainly bears watching as it is ever changing and can be lucrative for savvy real estate investors.