Japanese Home - Housing Statistics

Housing Statistics

Figures from the 2003 Housing and Land Survey conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications indicate that Japan had 53,890,900 housing units at the time. Of these, 46,862,900 (86.9%) were occupied and 7,027,900 (13.0%) unoccupied. Of the occupied units, 28,665,900 (61.2%) were owned by the resident household. The average number of rooms per unit of housing was 4.77, the average total floor area in was 94.85 square meters (28.69 tsubo; 1,021.0 sq ft) and the average number of people per room was 0.56. 45,258,000 units (96.6%) were used exclusively for living and 1,605,000 units (3.4%) were used both for living and commercial purposes. Of the units used exclusively for living, 10,893,000 (24.1%) were equipped with an automatic smoke detector. As of 2003, 17,180,000 housing units (36.7%) are classified by the Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication as being located in urban areas while 27,553,000 housing units (58.8%) are located in rural areas.

As in America, most Japanese live in single-family housing. During the postwar period, the number of multi-unit dwellings in Japan increased rapidly, although single-family housing remained the dominant housing type, albeit a declining number. In 1990, for instance, 60% of Japanese dwellings consisted of single-family homes, compared with 77% in 1958. Two years earlier, in 1988, 62.3% of the total housing units in Japan were single-family units and 37.7% were multiple-unit dwellings. That same year, a survey carried out by the Japanese economic planning agency showed that 62.3 per cent of the Japanese population owned a detached two-storeyed house.

In the 1980s, a new home in Japan cost 5-8 times the annual income of the average Japanese, and 2-3 times that of an average American. The typical loan term for Japanese homes was 20 years, with a 35% down payment, while in the United States it was 30 years and 25%, due to differing practices in their financial markets, resulting in the typical Japanese buying a home later in life as a result of the relative expense of the time.

According to a housing survey carried out in 1993, single-family homes accounted for 59.2% of all housing in Japan. In 1997, it was estimated that about 60% of Japanese lived in detached houses. In 1998, 52% of all dwellings in Japan were found to consist of detached houses owned by their residents, 36% were rented dwellings in apartment complexes, 8% were owned dwellings in apartments complexes, and 4% were rented detached houses. In 2008, it was estimated that six out of ten Japanese lived in single-family houses.