Tokyo is different. In the past half century, by investing in transit and allowing development, the city has added more housing units than the total number of units in New York City. It has remained affordable by becoming the world's largest city. It has become the world's largest city by remaining affordable.

Tokyo housing is considered relatively "cheap" compared to cities like London or New York due to liberal zoning laws and high supply. In Japan, the central government—not local neighborhoods—controls zoning, making it very difficult for "NIMBYs" to block new apartment buildings. This leads to a constant, massive supply of new housing that keeps pace with demand. Additionally, Japanese houses are treated as depreciable assets, similar to cars. Because of older construction standards and a cultural preference for new builds, houses often lose their value entirely over 20–30 years, reaching only the value of the land. This prevents the "real estate as an investment" mindset that drives prices up in the West. While central Tokyo property has seen price increases in 2026, the abundance of small "studio" apartments and an incredibly efficient rail network that allows people to live further out and commute easily keeps the median rent for a single person significantly more affordable than in other global tier-1 cities.