The "Great Australian Dream" is now buying a house in the Japanese countryside

When I think about the reasons why people work, one of those is obviously security for their family – putting a roof over your family's heads, so to speak. This wasn't too difficult back when I was a kid in my home country, where it was fairly typical to have one parent working, one parent staying at home with any children, and house prices fairly well-aligned with incomes.

Fast forward to today, and that's definitely not the case. Median house prices in my home city of Melbourne are pushing the million dollar mark, which means you've got to have a hefty initial deposit and both parents of a family working full time. Even then, you're going to have a pretty full-on mortgage unless you're blessed with some generational wealth or savings that many people just simply don't.

It didn't surprise me, then, when I saw an article via The Japan Times this week about how Aussies (and Kiwis) are searching Japan for real estate since prices here are so, so much lower. Niigata in particular was mentioned, since it seems like a lot of Aussies are fond of the snowy conditions here – perhaps our snow country is going to end up like Niseko, who knows! For a point of comparison, the article noted that a fully equipped lodge here was $110,000 Aussie dollars (¥10 million or so), which is completely unfathomable for a property back home. Even rural areas wouldn't have property prices that low.

Japan's property prices are a fraction of what Australia's are. Pic: Public Domain

The astronomical house prices back home have been a consideration in our decision to stay here as long as possible rather than returning either to Australia or my husband's home country of the US. We spend a bit of time looking at  the Cheap Houses Japan account on Instagram, dreaming about where we'd like to live here if work allows for it. There are so many beautiful properties, and sure, they might need a bit of fixing here and there – but it's certainly not going to cost us the better part of a million Aussie dollars to own a place that accommodates our family. I don't want to be working every minute of the day and missing out on life just to own a home, and in Australia that seems more and more like the reality.

What are housing prices like in your home country? Is it something that you find impacts your decision to return?