Does Immigration Depreciate Residential Land Prices? Case of Tokyo

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates the effects of immigration on residential land prices in urban Tokyo. A rapid increase in immigrants in Tokyo raises the concern that immigration may depreciate land prices because of the negative image emerging from the perception that some immigrants might create disharmony in society. However, our analysis denies this possibility; for every 1% increase in immigrant ratio (i.e., the proportion of immigrants in the total population), the residential land prices increase by 12%. Although the literature explains that a negative immigration effect occurs when the analysis uses small geographic units, the results suggest that even a positive effect can occur under small geographic units. The implications of the current results are complicated. While the concern of immigration-induced land price depreciation is unfounded, this raises another concern—that of asset inequality between land owners and tenants.