Living in a love hotel

Rent: 58,000 ~ 81,000 Yen/month

Tokyo-based property company, Landmarks Co., Ltd, have redeveloped a former love hotel in Sumida-ku into a rental apartment building. The studio apartments now have mini kitchens, bathrooms and, with the help of several designers, are finished in various modern and eclectic styles. The rooftop terrace was converted into a BBQ deck for residents (a rare thing to have in Tokyo apartments). The apartments have high-speed internet access, air-conditioning and there is also a washer/dryer room.Read more

by Zoe Ward

July Market Data

  • Average new apartment price down 3.7% in Tokyo
  • No. of high-rise apartments fall 69.5%
  • Office vacancy rates down in both Tokyo and Osaka

NEW APARTMENT SUPPLY DOWN:

Brand new apartments listed for sale in the Tokyo area in July fell 1.3% compared to a year earlier to 4073 units. This is the second month of decline. This is due in part to apartment showrooms opening for shorter hours to conserve power, less activity by developers and a general constraint in supply as material shortages and restrained buying cause developers to delay sales activity.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo's population growth areas

While the overall population of Japan is declining with rural areas suffering the most, the population in urban areas is growing as people move to larger cities to find work. In Tokyo City, the population increased in 2011 by 52,549 people to a total of 12,662,461 residents. While Tokyo's population is continuing to grow, the rate of growth is, however, slowing. For potential investors in Japanese property, obviously it is important to stick to areas that are growing and avoid the areas in decline.

Tokyo's Koto-ku and Minato-ku saw the largest increase in population over the past year, while other areas in Tokyo such as Kita-ku and Nakano-ku saw a net decrease in population.Read more

by Zoe Ward

100 billion Yen redevelopment project for Toyosu area

Mitsui Fudosan will be embarking on a large-scale redevelopment of Koto-ku's Toyosu area from next year. The 100 billion Yen (1.3 billion USD) project on one of Tokyo Bay's reclaimed islands will cover a 47,400 sqm site. The project will include two high-rise office buildings (31 and 22 stories) as well as retail facilities. Due to the nature of the site, measures will be taken to strengthen the ground against liquefaction and the building will be built using "seishin" (vibration-control) construction. Completion is scheduled for 2016 and Mitsui Fudosan will be contributing 90 billion Yen in capital.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Foreclosed house in Shirokanedai, Minato-ku

Court Evaluation: 204,370,000 Yen

*Update: The winning bid was 236,000,000 Yen. A total of 6 bids were made on the property and the winning bidder was a corporation.

The house is also being listed by real estate agents as a short sale with an asking price of 360,000,000 Yen (4.67 million USD), but it is unlikely that it will be sold prior to public auction at that price.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Hokkaido announces new construction plans for their Tokyo Office

Hokkaido Prefecture's aging office building in Tokyo's Nagatacho 2 Chome area is going to be demolished to make way for their new mixed-use development. The new building will include a restaurant specializing in Hokkaido-farmed produce and will also house representative offices of Hokkaido companies.

Construction is scheduled to begin in June, 2012, and is expected to open in September, 2013. The new 7-storey building will have a total floorspace of 6700 sqm (72,092 sqft) and the land, which is owned by Hokkaido Prefecture, will be leased to the developers under a 70-year fixed term leasehold agreement.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Mitsubishi Jisho Residence is the top apartment supplier in 2010

Market Economy Research Institute and the Real Estate Economic Institute announced the supply rankings of apartment developers across Japan for 2010. Mitsubishi Jisho Residence was the largest supplier of new apartments throughout Japan with a total of 6148 units - an increase of 121.2% from 2009.

In second place, Mitsui Fudosan Residential increased their supply by 17.3% to 5455 units. And in third place was Sumitomo Realty & Development who increased their supply by 15.3% to 4731 units. A total of 126 companies responded to the questionnaire sent out by the research institutes in May and June.Read more

by Zoe Ward