Would You Sell Your Home? part1
先日はワールドカップの試合後に日本人サポーターが自発的に観客席のゴミ拾いをした件で、「日本人の普通」に私が驚きましたが、今回は「アメリカ人の普通」に、みなさんが驚く番です！(笑)
The other day I posted an article about Japanese soccer fans cleaning up after themselves at the World Cup game and expressed surprise at what Japanese consider “normal.” It is now your turn to be surprised at what Americans consider “normal.”
変化を好むアメリカ人はよく引っ越しをします。米国民は平均すると６年に一度引っ越すそうです。「それは持ち家じゃなくて賃貸住宅だからですよ～！」と思ったでしょ？ 実は住宅保有率を比較すると、アメリカは65.2％に対して、日本は61.6％で、それほど違いません。ところがアメリカ人は単なる転勤の場合ですら、その都度持ち家を買い換えることが「普通」なのです。
世界の持ち家比率
Americans like change, and they are moving all the time. On average, Americans move once every six years. You may be thinking “That must be because they rent rather than own their own home.” Actually, the rate of homeownership is 65.2% in the U.S. compared to 61.6% in Japan, so there is not a very big difference. However, it is normal for Americans to sell their house and buy a new one frequently, even if they are just transferred somewhere.
ずっと同じ町に住んでいる人の場合も、結婚当初は小さい家を購入して住み、子供が少し大きくなり経済力が増したら、もっと大きい家に移ります。やがて子供が成長して家を離れたら、今度は広い庭付きの大きすぎる家にサヨナラ。コンドミニアム（マンション）へと移り、夫婦で自由に老後を楽しんだりします。もちろん賃貸住宅だからではなく、その都度持ち家を買い替えるのです。
Even if people live in the same town for a long time, they will buy a small home as soon as they can after getting married, live in it for a time, and then when the children get older and the family income has increased, move to a larger house. Once the children have grown up and left home, then a big house with a large yard becomes a burden, so they sell the house and move to a condominium so they can be freer to enjoy life. I am not talking about rented houses. Each time they sell the old home and buy a different one.
アメリカの税制がこのライフスタイルを助けてくれます。むしろ税制を通じて、そのようなライフスタイルを促進していると言う方が正しいかも知れません。日本のような不動産取得税はなく、印紙税や登録免許税も一切なく、消費税（売上税）もかかりません。その上、原則として住宅ローンの金利は所得税控除になります。
The U.S. tax system assists in this lifestyle. In fact, it is probably more proper to say that the system promotes it. There are no real estate acquisition taxes, stamp taxes, or registration taxes, and no value added tax. In addition, most mortgage interest is tax deductible.
登記の手数料はたいてい１万円以下で済みます。売却時に物件が値上がっていれば差益に所得税はかかりますが、住宅の場合、控除額が大きいです。そのお陰で土地建物を気軽に売ったり買ったりできます。日本では土地建物は滅多に売買されず、所有権があまり動かないから「不動産」ですが（ちなみに20トン以上の「船舶」も日本の法律上は「不動産」です）、アメリカでは土地建物は頻繁に売買されるので「不動産」ではなく、"Real estate"、直訳すると「本物の財産」なのです。
Recording usually costs somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 yen. If the property has increased in value, then the appreciation is taxable, but there is a very large tax exemption for homes. This makes it relatively easy to buy and sell land and buildings. In Japan, because land and buildings are not sold very often and the ownership does not change much, real estate is referred to in Japanese as fudousan, which translated literally means “immovable (or fixed) property” (incidentally, marine vessels over 20 tons are legally considered immovable property). In the U.S., since land and buildings change ownership frequently, they are referred to as “real estate,” which translated literally means “genuine property.”
Part2に続く : http://ameblo.jp/workingkent/entry-11882895227.html