Homeownership by Single Women in Central Tokyo

Abstract

This chapter examines how developers’ perceived risks affected Tokyo’s condominium market, resulting in the emergence of a new lifestyle, social changes, and an urban divide within the Tokyo metropolitan area after the late 1990s. First, to identify their housing needs, we focus on the housing pathways of younger people, women, and other members of non-nuclear households who were marginalized in the post-war housing market of Japan. Then, single women’s homeownership and the new condominium developments responding to their emerging housing needs in central Tokyo are discussed. The results presented in this chapter indicate that major housing developers have attempted to conform to the needs of small-sized households, including those of single women, providing opportunities for homeownership in central Tokyo. The diversification of supply strategies by major housing suppliers has transformed the housing market in central Tokyo, resulting in wide-ranging alternatives for owner-occupied housing that meet homeowners’ needs, demands, and expectations.