Excellent, useful, and timely summary. As an owner of a ski property in Hakuba I'm disappointed in the slow reopening (recent step only allows hotel/pension stays), but am hopeful things will ease by December! With the JPY weakness property prices are extremely cheap in Japan and there are no barriers to ownership. I built a 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom ski home for under USD 600k at current exchange rates which seems completely the wrong price when it's still possible to borrow yen for 1.5%
Thank you, Richard! US$600k for a 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom house sounds compelling, to say the least. I wish I were able to borrow from a Japanese bank at 1.5%(!)
Hi Michael. I actually borrowed from a Singapore bank against my stock/bond portfolio. Pre-covid, the rent would have been USD $6-7k a week gross during the high season, so yes very compelling!
Yes the opening has been measured, perhaps because of public opinion having been against it. So a delay in the reopening is the key risk here. On the other hand, Kishida seems determined to calibrate the border policy to match those of other G7 nations.
Excellent, useful, and timely summary. As an owner of a ski property in Hakuba I'm disappointed in the slow reopening (recent step only allows hotel/pension stays), but am hopeful things will ease by December! With the JPY weakness property prices are extremely cheap in Japan and there are no barriers to ownership. I built a 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom ski home for under USD 600k at current exchange rates which seems completely the wrong price when it's still possible to borrow yen for 1.5%
Thank you, Richard! US$600k for a 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom house sounds compelling, to say the least. I wish I were able to borrow from a Japanese bank at 1.5%(!)
Hi Michael. I actually borrowed from a Singapore bank against my stock/bond portfolio. Pre-covid, the rent would have been USD $6-7k a week gross during the high season, so yes very compelling!
Informative, thematic bird's eye view. Really enjoyed it!
Thank you, Johan 🙏
Timely and insightful, thank you. I am afraid to be optimistic, if that makes sense, as the "opening" has just been *so* measured and gradual.
Yes the opening has been measured, perhaps because of public opinion having been against it. So a delay in the reopening is the key risk here. On the other hand, Kishida seems determined to calibrate the border policy to match those of other G7 nations.
As always, great analysis Michael!
Thanks!