According to a survey by ECA International, Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world to rent a 2-bedroom apartment, and the 2nd most expensive city in the world for 3-bedroom apartments.
Tokyo has also seen the biggest fall in rents in Asia. This continues the trend of year-on-year rental price decreases witnessed there since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008.
Lee Quane, Regional Director of ECA International Asia explains that "assignee numbers in Tokyo are still lower than before the financial crisis". This means there is less demand for rental property in expatriate areas, and rents in those areas have steadily fallen since then, dropping almost 5% in Yen terms. Further falls in international assignee numbers following the tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster have continued to contribute to this trend.