不動産競売の法制度と実証研究の国際比較から見る日本の住宅市場流動化の提案

Abstract

To secure the liquidity of the housing market, we should construct a platform for selling existing housing units smoothly in conjunction with effective policy support for buying them. The spread of COVID-19 and accelerating prices have made people insecure about their employment and housing conditions worldwide. Under these turbulent circumstances, ordinary citizens who bought their houses via mortgages may default on their payments, resulting in their houses being sold by creditors to recover loans. Japan has two methods of debt collection: judicial foreclosure initiated by local courts and non-judicial foreclosure based on the agreement between the creditor and debtor. Comparisons of the foreclosure laws and systems in selected countries found that Japan’s judicial foreclosure is characterized by high involvement by the court and strong tenant protection, while non-judicial foreclosure remains outside the purview of the court. We propose reforms for providing information and effective judicial involvement for judging the risks of existing dwellings for potential bidders, which will promote internet auctions of real estate and more liquidity in Japan’s housing market.