EDIT: You can read about it here: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/03/15/w...
That's generally true though it depends on the specifics e.g. they would renovate and maintain things like temples, ryokan or major multi-generational homes.
It's the "personal" homes which are considered disposable (pretty much anything you'd have in a suburbs in the US for instance).
I wonder if at some point the cultural attitude to "old houses" will become more like Japan's.
[edit]: I find the downvotes curious - I know plenty of people living in ~120 year old houses, and plenty living in 5-15 year old new builds in subdivisions. None of us can really see the new ones being in service in another 110 years. So what I am curious about is - will this (apparent) fact change attitudes towards houses over time? It may just be selection bias. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things about newer builds that are improvements; longevity doesn't seem to be one of them. Of course the older houses have their own set of problems.
(I would have supposed undamaged pre-war inventory established different tastes in the US, but that wouldn't explain Europe having the same demographic of new building skeptics as the US.)
Houses are turning into Ikea furniture.
If it comes down to materials or build quality, no i would not say that 100+ year old homes are better built than newer homes.
Will you be able to say that of a lot of the new builds in 100 years?
I had heard that older Japanese were very 'allergic' to anything used or old, as it reminded them of the time during the war and post-war when everyone had to scrounge for everything. There was this thing in the 90's called '{some derogatory term}-shopping' where you'd dumpster dive in well off neighborhoods, and if you found a bit of 2 year old consumer electronics, you could assume it still worked.
That seems to be an exception pertaining to houses and especially single-family units. Objects/items seem to be restored as much as elsewhere if not more (see e.g. kintsugi).
Although transience/impermanence is also part of japanese tradition / aesthetics.
My mother is Korean, but FWIW she seems to have a similar stigma around 2nd hand clothing. With regards to dumpster diving for consumer electronics, I had only heard that theory 2nd hand, and I guess that especially applied to consumer electronics.
It might be true for some people, but that’s far from the mainstream. same for destroying a 2yo house, that’s an outlyer, as the title says the line is at 22 years in average.
The basic calculation is wether it will cost more to renovate a house or tear it down and build anew.
When considering redoing all the plumbing, upgrading insulation, eventualy the basic frame of the house if it built on wood, to then redo the whole kitchen and bathroom because so much has ch aged in the meantime, just tearing it down is the most cost and effective approach. For anyone buying an appartmwnt in Japan, the budgeting of all of that is layed out in the maintenance fees planning, where some part of it will be set aside for rebuilding.
Some people are renovating anyway, but think of it more like how people renovate 1920 area cars. The cost/benefit analysis is different.
People move, upgrade, or downsize for lots of reasons but the scenario you give certainly isn’t rare.
But can you imagine knocking it down and building a new one every 10 years?
When people don't move, their house doesn't get torn down.
Why? Unless your needs/life change so much that you either need to move somewhere or want a fundamentally different property. (Which of course aren't uncommon.)
But, in my case, my needs haven't radically changed. I've updated my 200 year old house to be like I want it. I can imagine a lifestyle change but it certainly wouldn't be to another house in the same area.
"Wanting" is kindy tricky. How much money do you have? You can live in a new house every year...or hotel. But not all have that luxury, that's why I made that comment. You buy a house and you know shelter is almost solved (taxes+maintenance do cost but...)
And I did look at buying a Georgian alms house but the renovation was messed up and it ended up in the courts for ages