Govt urges landowners in Fukushima evacuation zone not to sell

The government is requesting that residents from the evacuation zones near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant refrain from any real estate transactions within the area until evacuation orders are lifted.

The warning is to avoid any potential trouble arising after Tepco pays compensation to landowners and to ensure a smooth reorganization of the zones. The Yomiuri Shimbun gave a slightly different, and perhaps more honest reason for the request, which is to avoid the land being acquired by various yakuza organizations who, seeing an opportunity, may make it more difficult and more expensive for the government and Tepco to negotiate the storage of contaminated waste on such land. This is not an unfounded fear, as local real estate agents have reported receiving inquiries with very similar intentions.Read more


Town in Fukushima demands 19.2 billion Yen in compensation for lost real estate

The town of Futaba, which fell within the exclusion zone around the Fukushima nuclear plant, is demanding 19.2 billion Yen (234 million USD) in compensation from TEPCO for the loss of use of the town's real estate.

The town is claiming damages for loss of use to town-owned land, government buildings and schools. There are a total of 51 unusable buildings that were mentioned in the claim. A representative from TEPCO said this was the first time they received a real estate related claim from a town or city.Read more


Housing starts in Tohoku up 18.5% and 59.3% in Fukushima

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), the new housing starts for the 6 prefectures in Tohoku had increased by 18.5% to 4523 units in August, compared to the same month in 2010. This is the second continuous month of increases.Read more


Fukushima's real estate market not expected to recover for at least 3 years

Fukushima Prefecture's Real Estate Appraisal Association announced the results of their survey on the real estate market for Fukushima following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.Read more