The average price of a brand-new apartment across greater Tokyo has now exceeded a bubble-era high.
According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, the price of a new apartment in 2021, calculated from the fiscal year running from April 2021 to March 2022, was 63,600,000 Yen across Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama prefectures.
This is 2.3% higher than the record of 62,140,000 Yen seen in 1990. It has also exceeded the 62,600,000 Yen record set during the calendar year of 2021 and is 6.1% higher than the fiscal year of 2020.
The average has been pushed up by the popularity of luxury apartments in central Tokyo high-rises. In the 23 wards, the average price was 84,490,000 Yen, up 11.7% from the previous year, while the price per square meter increased by 7.1% to 1,308,000 Yen. However, this is still 13.4% below the record high of 1,510,000 Yen/sqm recorded in 1991.
The first-month contract ratio across greater Tokyo was 72.9%, up 5.2 points from the previous year and above the 70% line said to indicate healthy market conditions. In Tokyo’s 23 wards it was 72.0%.
The Institute noted that the already-high construction costs have only further been exacerbated by the record low Yen, making imported building materials costlier than ever. Difficulty in sourcing building materials from Russia due to sanctions has pushed prices even further this year. Considering these factors, prices are unlikely to drop in the near future.
Source: The Real Estate Economic Institute, April 18, 2022.
