Articles Published in Akiya Lab | Roopt (Makigumi)
Makigumi, which operates Roopt, constantly researches case studies and other information on the revitalization of vacant houses and publishes them as columns.
We will explain the logic of how the spread of the sharing economy will affect real estate prices, and introduce specific sharing economy services.
Noi: Hello everyone. I'm Noi, the host of this channel. In this video, we will be interviewing Mr. Ueda, President and CEO of Gaiax, about the valuation of old detached houses for investment in modern times.
Ueda: Nice to meet you.
Noi: Since last time, we've been discussing the current social situation in four topics to create future models. The first is lifestyle and demographics, the second is workation and remote work, the third is the sharing economy, and the fourth is the evolution of technology. This time, we will be talking about the second topic, workation and remote work. Mr. Ueda, please go ahead.
Ueda: Thank you.
Ueda: We are currently discussing how to evaluate real estate, and just as a declining population affects valuation, the fact that work styles such as workation and remote work are now accepted must also be considered in real estate valuation. I believe that remote work, especially with COVID-19, has significantly changed what is considered normal. By the way, Noi, do you also do remote work or workation?
Noi: Yes. I work almost entirely remotely, and when I was a first-year university student, it was during the COVID-19 pandemic, so all my classes were remote, and that's how I lived.
Ueda: By the way, how about the people working around you, Noi?
Noi: Most of them work remotely. I feel like there are almost no people who have to go to the office every day from Monday to Friday.
Ueda: Where does everyone live?
Noi: Many of my friends still live with their parents, but some have moved to slightly larger homes because they work from home a lot. I myself moved from a very small place to a slightly larger one because I started spending so much more time at home. Many people around me have done the same.
Ueda: Moving to a larger house often means moving a bit further away from the city, doesn't it? What do you think?
Noi: That's right. It inevitably gets more expensive, so some people move a little further out. Also, an increase in remote work means less going out, so some people might not mind being a bit further from the station.
Ueda: That's right. Thank you. At Gaiax, many members have actually left Tokyo and moved to places like Fukuoka or Nara, even if they've hardly ever been there before. I myself have been in Hayama for a long time, and the Shonan area has really seen an increase in people.
For example, many people come to Tokyo from university when they get a job. There are cases where they work from their hometown. Since they have a fair amount of money, they move to a place near their parents' home with good station access and suitable for daily leisure. For example, they might continue to live in Hiroshima Prefecture. This has become a major factor in the post-COVID era, as communication environments have improved and such arrangements are now permitted.
Along with this, frankly, various related businesses have also increased, and there's no end to listing them, but for example, there's a service called 'Hoikuen Ryugaku' (Nursery School Study Abroad) by KitchHike, which is also a member of the Sharing Economy Association. What this is, is a service where families live in a region for one or two weeks and enroll their children in a local nursery school. This is more related to the sharing economy domain, which I will explain next, but in any case, what it means is that while local nursery schools are struggling with declining numbers of children, more and more regions are becoming open to accepting new residents at any time.
In a word, places outside of major cities, rural areas, which have been experiencing extreme population decline, are at an advantage. However, compared to the large wave of population decline, it's not as if a huge number of people are moving just because remote work is possible. In reality, it's not that many people are sparsely moving to the countryside for remote work; rather, it's noticeable that people are moving to certain popular areas because remote work is an option.
The places that are easiest for everyone to imagine, starting from the Kanto region, are Karuizawa, and then Hayama and Shonan, which are the most popular. But even beyond that, for example, a member of our company who moved to Fukuoka chose Itoshima. By the way, Fukuoka is strong even within Kyushu, but within Fukuoka, there are two strong areas: Itoshima and Fukutsu, which are like the left and right sides of the coast. Surfing is popular there, and there are stylish cafes, so everyone is moving to these popular places.
Places that fail to gain popularity will decline. So, it's not that remote work will save the countryside because people are moving there; rather, people are moving to the countryside for remote work, but not all areas will be saved. Only a select few winning areas will be saved. The land prices in Zushi and Hayama have risen considerably, but outside of this class, if you ask if they are strong enough for land prices to rise, I don't think they are that strong. It's probably more like maintaining or a slight increase.
Ueda: Now, I'd like to elaborate a bit more on that valuation. Until now, the focus has been heavily on whether a place is urban, near a station, or in a densely populated area. In the case of Zushi and Hayama, Zushi Station being close to the station was a plus. Hayama, for example, might not have been highly valued because it doesn't have a station, but Hayama actually has beautiful seas. In this era of remote work, the beauty of the sea or good sea views become relatively more valuable than proximity to a station.
Another important factor is brand, and the local community of people. If you go there and find the cafes boring, the businesses uninteresting, and nothing but rice fields around, you can't stand it. So, I think places with many people who constantly create fun businesses are more important.
Here's another point: to continuously produce such interesting people, it's relatively easy to have a constant supply of talent if there are universities or similar facilities in the region. Oita Prefecture has Ritsumeikan APU, and the talent that goes there is launching various businesses around Oita, making it interesting. I think such places also possess latent power.
Until now, I think evaluations were based on very static or unchanging factors like past transaction prices or road values, but one wrong step can turn a property into a truly popular one. I want you to have the mindset of how to evaluate this, and to want to evaluate it.
If a financial institution were to lend money to a cafe, they'd ask, "What kind of cafe is it? Is it popular?" For example, a while ago, tapioca drinks became very popular, and many people came because of the extensive lineup. They would then decide whether or not to lend money based on that. In reality, we, as real estate investors, look at such things to decide whether to buy land. If it's a thriving area, we're willing to pay a high price, but if we go there, look at the atmosphere, and think, "This is no good," we won't buy it. I think it will be important in the future for decisions to be made in a way that is closer to the mindset of such investors.
Noi: Mr. Ueda, thank you for your talk. What kind of changes have you seen around Hayama, where you live, after COVID-19?
: Actually, a lot of interesting people from the Kanto region have gathered in the Hayama and Zushi areas. The local business owners and these interesting people who moved from Kanto, about 100 of them, pooled their money to create a bar in front of Zushi Station. Only the 100 shareholders who invested can participate at night, but they always exchange information among themselves right in front of Zushi Station. Many other projects are also starting up, and they're constantly discussing things like, "Shall we build a sauna together?" or "How about we develop this co-working facility together?" It's really interesting.Noi
: That's very interesting. So, after workation and remote work became widespread, these kinds of activities are happening in various places, aren't they?Ueda
: Without remote work, these places would have been in decline, but now there are not 100 or 200, but several dozen places where the trend has reversed.Noi
: Thank you. This time, we discussed workation and remote work as part of the current social situation for creating future models. Next time, Mr. Ueda will continue to talk about the sharing economy. Please watch the next video as well. Thank you for watching.Ueda
: Thank you.First published: Akiya Lab (2024 - now integrated into this site)
Related Columns
Your next trip or life, with Roopt.
Contact Us
Vacation Rentals & Hotels
