Chongryon HQ's second auction to be held in October

Chongryon-TokyoThe Chongryon headquarters and North Korean de-facto embassy building and land in Chiyoda-ku will be put up for public auction in October after the bidder from the first auction was unable to go through with the purchase.

Bidding is open from the October 3 to 10 and bids will be opened on October 17. The minimum bid is 2.134 billion Yen (21.7 million USD) and a deposit of 533.6 million Yen (5.4 million USD) is required to bid. Read more

by Zoe Ward

Secondhand apartment prices in August - Tokyo Kantei

According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70 sqm (753 sqft) secondhand apartment in Tokyo's 23-ku was 40,340,000 Yen in August. This is an increase of 1.2% from last month and 2.8% from August 2012. It is also the first time since March 2012 that the price has exceeded the 40 million Yen mark.

In Tokyo's central 6 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, Bunkyo and Shibuya), the average asking price in August was 53,870,000 Yen, up 1.1% from last month and up 5.2% from last year. The average apartment age was 21 years.  Read more

by Zoe Ward

482 apartments sold in Tomihisa Cross, Shinjuku

Although the building won't be ready to move into for another two years, all 482 apartments released in the first round of sales in Tomihisa Cross Comfort Tower sold out instantly during the initial sales period in mid-September.

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by Zoe Ward

August rental data - Tokyo Kantei

The average monthly rent of a condominium apartment in greater Tokyo in August was 2,549 Yen/sqm, up 0.6% from last month and up 3.3% from last year. The average apartment size was 59.35 sqm (639 sqft) and the average apartment age was 18.7 years.

The average rent in Tokyo's 23-ku was 3,096 Yen, down 1 Yen from last month but up 3.3% from last year. The average apartment size was 56.13 sqm (604 sqft) and the average age was 17.4 years.Read more

by Zoe Ward

New development in Kachidoki to have over 3,000 apartments

Kachidoki East District Redevelopment 1The proposed Kachidoki East District Development on the man-made island of Kachidoki in Tokyo Bay will have over 3,000 apartments when completed, making it the largest residential project in Japan.

The development includes three residential towers with a total of 3,020 apartments. This will be larger in scale than the nearby 'The Tokyo Towers' which has 2,794 apartments. Read more

by Zoe Ward

New apartment prices in August

The Residence Mita. All 90 apartments initially released for sale sold out on the same day.

According to the latest data from the Real Estate Economic Institute, a total of 4,145 brand new apartments were released for sale across greater Tokyo in August, up 53.3% from last year. This is the supply of apartments in the month of August since 2005.

Of those, 3,378 were sold making the contract ratio 81.5%.

Meanwhile, a total of 2,250 second-hand apartments were also sold in greater Tokyo during the month.

The average price of a new apartment was 47,960,000 Yen, up 0.5% from last year. The average price per square meter was 677,000 Yen, down 2% from last year.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Land prices increase for first time in 5 years

The MLIT announced the nationwide standard land prices (kijun-chika) on September 19. These land price surveys are carried out by the prefectural governments each year on July 1.

This year, commercial land prices increased in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya for the first time in five years.

Nationwide, the overall land prices were down 1.9%. This is the 22nd year of decline, although the rate has reduced from a 2.7% decline in 2012. The decline is being pulled down by rural or regional area suffering from depopulation, which saw prices drop 2.6% this year. Overall land prices in Japan's three largest cities, however, were up 0.1% after a 1% drop in 2012.Read more

by Zoe Ward