New apartment prices in greater Tokyo up 20%

According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, 3,503 new apartments were released for sale across greater Tokyo in June, up 0.2% from the previous month but showing no change from June 2014. This is about 20% lower than the Institute’s estimate for the month.

2,757 apartments were sold, making the contract rate 78.7%. This is an increase of 7.6 points from the previous month and an increase of 2.1 points from last year.

The average new apartment price was 58,150,000 Yen, up 20.8% from the previous month and up 20.4% from last year. The average price per square meter was 829,000 Yen, up 22.1% from the previous month and up 21.4% from last year.

745 apartments in high-rise buildings (over 20 storeys) were offered for sale, up 65.9% from last year. The contract rate was 81.6%, down 2.8 points from last year.

The market appears to be in recovery, with the amount of new apartments released for sale finally returning to levels seen 12 months ago. The return is evident in Tokyo’s 23 wards, where there has been a number of same-day sellouts in high-priced buildings. Areas such as Chiba and Saitama, however, are suffering from sluggish demand due to high construction costs which are pushing prices past the budget of many home buyers. In Saitama Prefecture, the contract rate was 58.7%, down 14.6 points from last year.Read more

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by Zoe Ward