TOKYO: Three-dimensional printed homes are attracting attention in Japan as they can be purchased for the price of a car and be built in days.

Serendix Inc., a startup based in Nishinomiya in the western prefecture of Hyogo, will sell a 3D-printed house for a two-member household for 5.5 million yen. With a floor space of about 50 square meters, the house can be completed in only about two days.

“A world where you can buy a house for the price of a car is coming,” Serendix CEO Hiroyasu Koma said.

The 3D-printed house, which Serendix calls the barnacle, has three rooms, including a living room and a bedroom.

The house is completed in about 45 hours by combining steel columns with concrete wall materials made with a 3D printer. Still, the home is “strong and earthquake resistant,” a Serendix official said.

The company will initially sell six units at the end of this month, receiving more than 6,000 inquiries and attracting strong interest from elderly people who find it difficult to pass screenings for houses for rent.

“We want to meet various needs,” Koma said. The company aims eventually to construct 3D-printed houses with a floor space of 100 square meters.

Aizawa Concrete Corp. in Tomakomai in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido built three accommodation facilities with a 3D printer at Di-Maccio Art Museum in the town of Niikappu in July last year.

“We want to build more,” a company official said.

The popularity of 3D-printed houses is likely to grow further as the construction industry struggles with labor shortages and soaring materials prices, analysts said.

JIJI Press