Why Apartments in Tokyo Are So Much Cheaper Than in NYC
4th October 2026
Housing prices ultimately come down to supply and demand. So how has Tokyo managed to keep housing relatively affordable, while New York has struggled to do the same?
Tokyo has been focused on keeping up with demand; its housing stock nearly tripled between 1963 and 2013, reaching 7.36 million homes. To do this, Japan keeps zoning flexible. Instead of limiting each area to a single use, zoning allows homes, shops, and light industry to coexist on the same blocks. Projects that follow these rules can be built “as-of-right,” without discretionary review or giving neighbors the power to block them.
As usual, government is the reason we can’t have nice things.