The housing market in Japan is very different, for better or worse. As a consequence of the fact that houses aren't seen as investments, people...don't invest in their houses. They don't make necessary repairs, so the next owner would rather knock it over and rebuild than risk living in a rotting deathtrap [1]. From a macroscopic level, this is an enormous waste, because society is investing all these resources just to tread water, instead of accumulating wealth and resources over generations.
[1] Raze, rebuild, repeat: why Japan knocks down its houses after 30 years: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/nov/16/japan-reusabl...