New apartment prices in Tokyo up 4% in May

According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, the market for new condominiums in Tokyo is showing signs of improvement as sales numbers and prices increase in May.

A total of 4,967 new apartments were released for sale in May, up 49.2% from May 2012 and up 21.4% from the previous month. The contract rate (the number of new apartments sold as a percentage of the total number for sale) was 78.1%, which is above the 70% indicator of a good market. The contract rate for apartments in high-rise buildings above 20 stories was 84.6%.Read more