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Comment by adolph | Hacker News Reader

But the US never developed two qualities fundamental to the Lustron: the idea that houses should be consumed like cars and the ability to mass-produce modular housing.

“Houses . . . consumed like cars” makes for an interesting thought experiment, like “The Roads Must Roll”[0] but doesn’t strike me as a meeting an actual need. Maybe I’m wrong.

0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roads_Must_Roll

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Apparently, in Japan they view housing as more of a 'consumption good' than we do in the US, and that has some benefits in terms of being more amenable to building enough and being less NIMBY about things.

I imagine Japan’s “view” on housing is downstream of macroeconomic conditions like deflation and population decline. Ie, houses don’t appreciate much in price therefore people dont look at them like investments, not the other way around.

In support of this is China, where there are similar cultural views about “used” homes being undesirable. Yet (to this point) prices have appreciated and they have used them as investment vehicles.

To put it another way, would Japanese homes really depreciate with rapid population and economic growth? There is just no way.

From what I hear this attitude is centuries old, far predating demographic decline. Traditionally Japanese homes had paper walls and were expected to be damaged by their frequent earth quakes. Fires were also frequent. They were not expected to last.

I dont doubt the attitude is older, I doubt that its the operative factor.

It's true even for cities like Tokyo that are still attracting people despite the population of the country declining.

I believe Tokyo requires demolition after a certain amount of time or ownership change right? Not entirely sure, and Ive also seen some info that suggest real estate has appreciated in Tokyo lately.

Point being maybe its demographics and regulation, with a cultural attitude that jives with it and even explains the regulation to demolish, but not attitude being operative.

Things probably get baked into culture and practices even in situations where they aren't really optimal.

What we have in the US is far from optimal. In many 'hot' markets during the recent runup in prices, houses were "making" more money in a year than the median household earned. That's a recipe for a whole host of problems.

And also why it’s possible to buy a perfectly fine house in Japan for $30k USD. Their demographics also contribute to this too though.

you can buy a perfectly fine house in the US for 30k, you'll just have to be okay with living in a rural area.

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