Japan Foreclosed Property 2015-2016 - Buy this 5th edition report!

Over the years, this ebook has been enhanced with additional research to offer a comprehensive appraisal of the Japanese foreclosed property market, as well as offering economic and industry analysis. The author travels to Japan regularly to keep abreast of the local market conditions, and has purchased several foreclosed properties, as well as bidding on others. Japan is one of the few markets offering high-yielding property investment opportunities. Contrary to the 'rural depopulation' scepticism, the urban centres are growing, and they have always been a magnet for expatriates in Asia. Japan is a place where expats, investors (big or small) can make highly profitable real estate investments. Japan is a large market, with a plethora of cheap properties up for tender by the courts. Few other Western nations offer such cheap property so close to major infrastructure. Japan is unique in this respect, and it offers such a different life experience, which also makes it special. There is a plethora of property is depopulating rural areas, however there are fortnightly tenders offering plenty of property in Japan's cities as well. I bought a dormitory 1hr from Tokyo for just $US30,000.
You can view foreclosed properties listed for as little as $US10,000 in Japan thanks to depopulation and a culture that is geared towards working for the state. I bought foreclosed properties in Japan and now I reveal all in our expanded 350+page report. The information you need to know, strategies to apply, where to get help, and the tools to use. We even help you avoid the tsunami and nuclear risks since I was a geologist/mining finance analyst in a past life. Check out the "feedback" in our blog for stories of success by customers of our previous reports.

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Monday, November 17, 2014

Japan Needs to Restructure its Tax System as the Nation Struggles to Restore Economic Growth

Japan has fallen back into a ‘technical’ recession after recording its 2nd successive quarter of negative growth. Japanese GDP fell by 0.4% (or an annualised rate of -1.6%) in the 3rd-quarter of 2014. Reuters had forecast economic growth of 0.5% (or annualised growth of 2.1%). Quarterly figures are misleading in the context of the sales tax hike, as it’s probable that people brought forward expenses in the 2nd quarter (contraction of -1.83%, or annualised rate of 7.3%). Based on statistical evidence, private households are not responding to the stimulus, with private consumption, representing 60% of economic activity, rising just 0.4%.

Equity markets understandably took the contraction badly, with the Nikkei-225 falling 3% (517pts) to 16,973pts in response to the news. This follows a strong recovery in the Japanese market since the BOJ revealed an expanded stimulus program. The Yen was also weaker by 0.85%, falling to 115.58 Yen against the USD, taking the Yen to a 7-year high.

Clearly there was a lack of confidence by Japanese business leaders and consumers in the sustainability of the Japanese recovery. This poor result can be attributed to:
  1. A lack of substantive reform
  2. The increase in the sales tax rate from 5% to 8% in April 2014.
  3. The subdued growth in exports – apart from the one-off ‘yen-depreciation’ gains
  4. The interim nature of the data. There is still corporate ‘capital items’ to be reported which will marginally improve the revised numbers, yet the final figure will still look bad.[i]
  5. The government’s attempt to “flog a dead horse” by attempting to use stimulus to boost inflation. It is ludicrous because he is not pursuing the right monetary settings to achieve that goal.

The policy is poorly conceived for a number of reasons. The principle objective is to rebalance the public sector budget and to revitalise the economy. If they can revitalise the economy, then this will go a long way towards removing budgetary pressures. The problem is that:
  1. Executive Japanese governments are renown for cowardice. They simply don’t have the ‘braze balls’ to pursue policies that will impact the Japanese people.
  2. Japan's government simply does not have the courage to cut spending on public works that have sustained a substantial amount of domestic demands, even if it has been hugely inefficient and raised the public debt to ridiculous levels. The good news is that most of this debt is being carried by the Japanese people, so it is easy for the Japanese government to simply raise taxes or inflation to recapitalise the economy.
  3. Japanese households are struggling to save given their lack of financial literacy, as well as the poor return on traditional ‘bonds’. The greater folly is that the Japanese government has abused pensioner savings by investing in domestic infrastructure, which has offered investors and the economy a sub-optimal benefit. Few other nations want to invest in government bonds that return a paltry yield of just 0.4%; least of all when the currency is being rapidly debased. The low-medium income Japanese investor is a sucker for it.
  4. The Japanese distribution of income is very tight so a great many families are struggling on low incomes. The implication is that a lot of households are vulnerable to a rise in sales taxes. The last rise from 5% to 8% occurred in April 2014, and a further rise to 10% is scheduled for Oct 2015.
  5. Given the slack economy, many commentators are expecting the Japanese government to defer the last tax increase until 2017. The problem however is that Abe is attempting to place the burden on the households, and that is just outrageous when you consider the wage restraint imposed upon the economy. The government should be taxing capital, with the ultimately intent to boosting the return on capital, as well as stimulating consumption. That would be particularly sensible strategy given that is where the asset appreciation is. The most sensible way to achieve this might be by ending 'centralised government'. Rather than central governments dispersing funds to prefectural and city governments, it would probably make more sense to bestow a greater responsibility upon local government to carry administrative burdens. 


The rationale for taxing consumers is to stimulate business activity, however this is a ludicrous idea when:
  1. External markets are subdued
  2. Wage growth is subdued because the reform initiative has been mute

Domestic costs need to fall and the best approach is not to raise consumption taxes, but to reduce the burden on the Japanese people. This can be done by:
  1. Boosting immigration, and Abe is certainly looking at that, whilst concurrently scaling up the nationalistic rhetoric.
  2. Speeding up the pace of political and industry reform that promise to cut the costs of living and to add dynamism to the economy. We have electricity privatisation in 2015, however more is required.
  3. Cutting spending so that the consumer has greater discretion to optimise their own spending. It cannot rely on stronger external trade in the current context.
  4. Speeding up privatisation so that capital can be more efficiently employed
  5. Tax reform that shifts the burden of the state from the consumer to the holders of capital

The corporate sector, given its exposure to weaker yen were able to contribute in terms of ‘record profits’, however this is not real growth. The problem of course is that Japan cannot look to the external account to boost Japan because of the weak global economy.

There is a propensity for economic commentators to not understand inflation. The Bank of Japan's (BOJ) has a ludicrous goal of 2% inflation. You cannot blow out money supply by a massive 40% and persist in wondering why there is no inflation. They look at inflation as a simple ‘demand phenomenon’, so when they look at inflation and see no inflation, they think ‘the economy needs more pump-priming’. The reality however is that the ‘pump priming’ is boosting asset prices (i.e. asset inflation), not the ‘cost of living’ inflation that affects workers. There is a good reason why this is the case and it is the immense ‘oversupply’ of unskilled labour in the global marketplace, and Japan is no exception. Only among the higher skilled workers is there a rise in incomes.

We clearly see evidence of asset inflation with the Nikkei off its 7.5 year high of 17,500pts. In the case of Japan, the asset inflation is largely confined to the equity market and inner-city property markets, which offer the most tangible exposure to assets in a depopulating market. The property market does however offer substantive opportunity for future gains if there is evidence of economic reforms that auger well for real income growth. In the short term, the property market is destined to be constrained by:
  1. Negative growth in real income
  2. Slack employment growth
  3. Low consumer and business confidence
  4. Negative population growth

The only positive aspect is that despite ‘negative’ overall population growth, there is still migration of people to the cities. Rather than people going to the city centres, a great many of these youthful Japanese are turning to the outer areas of Tokyo, which are far cheaper.
The rationale for an election is simply because Abe’s opponents are divided and weak. It would be opportune to call an election whilst that remains the case, but why now? There is no reason why he can’t defer the sales tax, but there is an imperative that he is seen to be carrying through with his reform mandate. There is every possibility that Abe will look to other measures like immigration to boost the economy. Expect the influx of tourists to help placate Japanese fears of increased immigration.


[i] Comment by Yoshito Sakakibara, Executive Director - Investment Research, JP Morgan; “Japan's economy contracts in third quarter” by Li Anne Wong, CNBC.com, website, 17th Nov 2014.

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Major cities of Japan

資料:各都市の推計人口(ホームページ) Japan's major cities:
札幌市 Sapporo 仙台市 Sendai さいたま市 Saitama 千葉市 Chiba
東京都区部 Tokyo-23 横浜市 Yokohama 川崎市 Kawasaki 新潟市 Niigata 静岡市 Shizuoka 浜松市 Hamamatsu 名古屋市 Nagoya 京都市 Kyoto 大阪市 Osaka 堺市 Sakai 神戸市 Kobe 広島市 Hiroshima 北九州市 Kitakyushu 福岡市 Fukuoka

Cities and towns of Tokyo

競売物件購入 keibai buttsuken kounyu 千代田区 Chiyoda-ku 八王子市 Hachioji-shi 羽村市 Hamura-shi 中央区 Chuo-ku 立川市 Tachikawa-shi あきる野市 Akiruno-shi 港区 Minato-ku 武蔵野市 Musashino-shi 西東京市 Nishitokyo-shi 新宿区 Shinjuku-ku 三鷹市 Mitaka-shi 文京区 Bunkyo-ku 青梅市 Ome-shi 郡部 Towns and villages 台東区 Taito-ku 府中市 Fuchu-shi 瑞穂町 Mizuho-machi
墨田区 Sumida-ku 昭島市 Akishima-shi 日の出町 Hinode-machi 江東区 Koto-ku 調布市 Chofu-shi 檜原村 Hinohara-mura 品川区 Shinagawa-ku 町田市 Machida-shi 奥多摩町 Okutama-machi 目黒区 Meguro-ku 小金井市 Koganei-shi 大田区 Ota-ku 小平市 Kodaira-shi 島部 Islands 世田谷区 Setagaya-ku 日野市 Hino-shi 大島町 Oshima-machi 渋谷区 Shibuya-ku 東村山市 Higashimurayama-shi 利島村 Toshima-mura
中野区 Nakano-ku 国分寺市 Kokubunji-shi 新島村 Niijima-mura 杉並区 Suginami-ku 国立市 Kunitachi-shi 神津島村 Kouzushima-mura 豊島区 Toshima-ku 福生市 Fussa-shi 三宅村 Miyake-mura 北区 Kita-ku 狛江市 Komae-shi 御蔵島村 Mikurajima-mura 荒川区 Arakawa-ku 東大和市 Higashiyamato-shi 八丈町 Hachijo-machi 板橋区 Itabashi-ku 清瀬市 Kiyose-shi 青ケ島村 Aogashima-mura 練馬区 Nerima-ku 東久留米市 Higashikurume-shi 小笠原村 Ogasawara-mura 足立区 Adachi-ku 武蔵村山市 Musashimurayama-shi 葛飾区 Katsushika-ku 多摩市 Tama-shi 江戸川区 Edogawa-ku 稲城市 Inagi-shi

Cities & Towns of Saitama

競売物件購入 keibai buttsuken kounyu 西区 Nishi-ku 北区 Kita-ku 大宮区 Omiya-ku 見沼区 Minuma-ku 中央区 Chuo-ku 桜区 Sakura-ku 浦和区 Urawa-ku 南区 Minami-ku 緑区 Midori-ku Cities (-shi) さいたま市 Saitama-shi 川越市 Kawagoe-shi 熊谷市 Kumagaya-shi 川口市 Kawaguchi-shi 行田市 Gyoda-shi 秩父市 Chichibu-shi 所沢市 Tokorozawa-shi 飯能市 Hanno-shi 加須市 Kazo-shi 本庄市 Honjo-shi 東松山市 Higashi-Matsuyama-shi 岩槻市 Iwatski-shi 春日部市 Kasukabe-shi 狭山市 Sayama-shi 羽生市 Hanyu-shi 鴻巣市 Kounosu-shi 深谷市 Fukaya-shi 上尾市 Ageo-shi 草加市 Souka-shi 越谷市 Koshigaya-shi 蕨 市 Warabi-shi 戸田市 Toda-shi 入間市 Iruma-shi 鳩ケ谷市 Hatogaya-shi 朝霞市 Asaka-shi 志木市 Shiki-shi 和光市 Wako-shi 新座市 Niiza-shi 桶川市 Okegawa-shi 久喜市 Kuki-shi 北本市 Kitamoto-shi 八潮市 Yasio-shi 富士見市 Fujimi-shi 上福岡市 Kami-fukuoka-shi 三郷市 Misato-shi 蓮田市 Hasuda-shi 坂戸市 Sakado-shi 幸手市 Satte-shi 鶴ケ島市 Tsurogashima-shi 日高市 Hidaka-shi 吉川市 Yoshikawa-shi 北足立郡 Districts (-gun) 伊奈町 Ina-machi or ko 吹上町 Fukiage-machi 大井町 Oi-machi 三芳町 Miyoshi-machi 毛呂山町 Moroyama-machi 越生町 Ogose-machi 名栗村 Naguri-mura

Cities &Towns of Kanagawa

競売物件購入 keibai buttsuken kounyu 県計 市部計 郡部計 横浜市 鶴見区 神奈川区 西区 中区 南区 港南区 保土ヶ谷区 旭区 磯子区 金沢区 港北区 緑区 青葉区 都筑区 戸塚区 栄区 泉区 瀬谷区 川崎市 川崎区 幸区 中原区 高津区 宮前区 多摩区 麻生区 横須賀市 平塚市 鎌倉市 藤沢市 小田原市 茅ヶ崎市 逗子市 相模原市 三浦市 秦野市 厚木市 大和市 伊勢原市 海老名市 座間市 南足柄市 綾瀬市 三浦郡葉山町 高座郡寒川町 中郡 大磯町 二宮町 足柄上郡 中井町 大井町 松田町 山北町 開成町 足柄下郡 箱根町 真鶴町 湯河原町 愛甲郡 愛川町 清川村

Cities & Towns of Chiba

競売物件購入 keibai buttsuken kounyu 県計 市計 郡計 千葉市 中央区 花見川区 稲毛区 若葉区 緑区 美浜区 銚子市 市川市 船橋市 館山市 木更津市 松戸市 野田市 佐原市 茂原市 成田市 佐倉市 東金市 八日市場市 旭市 習志野市 柏市 勝浦市 市原市 流山市 八千代市 我孫子市 鴨川市 鎌ヶ谷市 君津市 富津市 浦安市 四街道市 袖ケ浦市 八街市 印西市 白井市 富里市

Cities & Towns of Osaka

競売物件購入 keibai buttsuken kounyu 総 数 府 保 健 所 計 池 田 池田市 豊能町  箕面市  能勢町  豊中豊中市  吹 田 吹田市 茨木摂津市  茨木市 島本町 枚方枚方市  寝屋川 寝屋川市 守口 守口市  門真市 四條畷 四條畷市 交野市  大東市 八 尾 八尾市  柏原市  藤井寺 松原市  羽曳野市 藤井寺市 富田林 大阪狭山市 富田林市 河内長野市 河南町  太子町  千早赤阪村 和泉和泉市  泉大津市 高石市  忠岡町  岸和田 岸和田市 貝塚市  泉佐野 泉佐野市 熊取町 田尻町  泉南市  阪南市  岬町 大 阪 市 堺市 高槻市 東大阪市  

Cities & Towns of Hiroshima

競売物件購入 keibai buttsuken kounyu 県計 広島市 広島市中区 広島市東区 広島市南区 広島市西区 広島市安佐南区 広島市安佐北区 広島市安芸区 広島市佐伯区 呉市 竹原市 三原市 尾道市 福山市 府中市 三次市 庄原市 大竹市 東広島市 廿日市市 安芸高田市 江田島市 府中町 海田町 熊野町 坂町 安芸太田町 北広島町 大崎上島町 世羅町 神石高原町