Job losses in Niseko putting pressure on rental market
International travel bans and a state of emergency have seen the highly tourist-reliant ski towns in Niseko and surrounding towns suffer from a steep fall in employment and a sharp uptick in vacant apartments.
Showroom closures see new apartment supply hit 47-year low
The supply of brand new apartments released for sale across greater Tokyo in June dropped 31.7% from last year to 1,543 units. This is the 10th month in a row to see a year-on-year drop, although it is a four-fold increase from the units supplied in May.
Quick real estate news summary for the week
Hotel bankruptcies on the rise, office conversions to become a trend, and a planned hike in fire insurance premiums for homeowners. Below is a quick weekly summary of some of the recent goings-on in the Japanese real estate market.
Tokyo apartment discounts in June
The real estate industry kicked back into gear in June as both businesses and individuals began to pick up activity after the end of the state of emergency. Transactions of existing apartments, while not back to last year’s numbers, have improved significantly in June, following two months of drastic falls. In Tokyo’s Minato ward, transactions are only 2.4% below the number reported in June 2019. What about discounts? Is it a negotiation frenzy?
83-yr old bathhouse in Osaka closes its doors
A historic and elaborately designed bathhouse in Osaka’s Ikuno Ward has closed its doors for good, ending 80+ years of operations. Gengabashi Onsen is thought to have been built in 1937 by a local landowner.
How the coronavirus is affecting different sectors of Japan's real estate market
The coronavirus pandemic is affecting the various sectors of Japan’s real estate market in different ways. Some segments are booming while others are seeing the worst conditions in recent history.
Apartment transactions and sale prices recover in June
Buying activity in the greater Tokyo area is starting to resume, with monthly transactions starting to recover from levels seen during the shut down in April and May. In June, a total of 3,107 second-hand apartments were reported to have sold across greater Tokyo, up 83.6% from May. This number is still 11% below the transactions seen in June 2019, but an improvement from the 52.6% year-on-year drop seen in April and the 38.5% drop seen in May.