record low of 1.2 births per woman as of 2023. Meanwhile, death rates have surpassed birth rates in Japan, as its elderly population continues to increase.

“The akiya problem has been building for decades, rooted in Japan’s post-war economic boom, which led to a surge in housing construction,” Tetsuya Kaneko, head of research and consultancy at Savills Japan told CNBC Make It.

“The issue became more pronounced in the 1990s with Japan’s economic slowdown, and has worsened with ongoing demographic changes,” said Kaneko.

Urban migration is another big contributing factor to Japan’s abandoned houses. “As younger generations move to cities for work, rural areas are left with aging populations who may pass away or be unable to maintain their homes,” he added.

Among local people, akiyas are often stigmatized, and even seen as a “burden,” said Kaneko. So, even when family homes are inherited by the children of elderly parents who pass away, many times, the heirs are reluctant to personally use or sell the property, adding more abandoned houses to the market.

Notably, a home that is over 30-year-old “is typically considered old,” said Kaneko, and locals tend to be concerned over things like safety issues, high renovation costs and decay, he explained. Some people even associate these homes with superstition, “believing they might be haunted or bring bad luck.”

Ultimately, “many Japanese [people] look at akiya as depreciating items that are more trouble than they’re worth,” Michael, founder of Japan real estate blog Cheap Houses Japan, told CNBC Make It.

“The cheapest properties are that way for a reason,” he said, whether it is because the location is not desirable, or the cost of renovations are expected to exceed the value of the property.