The number of brand-new apartments released for sale across greater Tokyo in July increased by 7.8% from last year, according to the Real Estate Economic Institute. This is the first year-on-year increase in 11 months. After several months of intentionally limiting supply, and with the summer bonus season upon us, developers decided to release more apartments onto the market.

A total of 2,083 new apartments were made available in July, up 35.0% from June. The contract ratio 62.4%, down 10.8 points from the previous month and down 5.5 points from last year. 

Most of the year-on-year supply increases were limited to West Tokyo (+42.2%), Kanagawa (+53.5%), and Saitama (+42.9%). In Tokyo’s 23 wards, 744 units were released for sale, down 19.3% from last year. 

The average new apartment price across greater Tokyo was 61,240,000 Yen, up 7.9% from last year. The average price per square meter was 913,000 Yen, up 6.2% from last year. In Tokyo’s 23 wards, the average price was 80,310,000 Yen, up 22.8% from last year, while the average price per square meter increased by 16.7% to 1,245,000 Yen.

Just 1,000 apartments are scheduled to be released for sale in August as the heat and summer holidays typically make it a slow month for the industry. The recent second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is also expected to result in fewer buyers attending developer show rooms. 

In the Kinki region, which includes Osaka, 921 new apartments were offered for sale in July, down 48.5% from the previous month and down 34.5% from last year. This is the lowest level seen for the month of July since 1991 (914 units). The contract ratio was 67.4%. The average sale price was 49,170,000 Yen, up 4.3% from last year, and the highest price seen since June 1992 (50,050,000 Yen). The average price per square meter was 770,000 Yen, up 1.3% from last year, and the highest price seen since October 1991 (803,000 Yen).

Source: The Real Estate Economic Institute, August 20, 2020.

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