Long-term Vacant Houses in Urban Areas in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area

Analysis of a Survey of Vacant Houses in Kawaguchi City, Saitama

Abstract

Using a novel dataset of building/locational characteristics of vacant houses and questionnaire surveys on their owners, we provide an evidence on the long-term vacancy in urban areas in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Generally, vacant houses have disadvantageous building/locational characteristics than occupied ones, suggesting that used housing market works to some extent. However, the long-term vacancy surely exists even among the potentially advantageous properties. This social inefficiency is mainly caused by (i) the mismatch of the timing in inheritance or relocation of the owners and (ii) their intention to keep holding their properties for a while as the