The free/very cheap houses in Japan are not within commuting proximity of major hubs. Japan also has significant inheritance taxes so a lot of properties are left to rot instead of being passed down.
Seems to be a novelty for western youtubers to buy up cheap places and document the restoration process but the houses need significant renovations to make them livable. A lot of these dwelling are also pre-date earthquake standards introduce in 1981 so they're undersirable to locals.
They're not remotely representative of what could happen in any metropolitan centre in Australia, they're the equivalent of a mining town in a rural areas that's had it's resources depleted.
