Greater Tokyo apartment sale prices down in January, ending 72-month streak
According to REINS, 2,667 second-hand apartments were reported to have sold across greater Tokyo in January, down 10.7% from the previous month but up 1.0% from January 2018. The average sale price was 32,940,000 Yen, down 2.5% from the previous month and down 1.9% from last year. The average price per square meter was 514,600 Yen, down 1.8% from the previous month and down 0.3% from last year. This ends a 72-month streak of year-on-year increases in sale prices.
Former Tsukiji Fish Market to become a conference center
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is firming up plans to redevelop the former Tsukiji Fish Market in downtown Tokyo into an international conference and exhibition center. Earlier rumors had suggested the site could become a sports stadium, shopping mall or a food-based theme park.
Hotel Okura to replace South Wing annex with high-rise apartments and office
The last vestige of Hotel Okura’s modernist presence is in line to be demolished as redevelopment plans surface for the Hotel Okura Tokyo’s annex (South Wing).
The most expensive apartments in Tokyo over the past 30 years
On January 26, Recruit Sumai Company released a ranking of the most expensive condominiums developed across Tokyo over the past 30 years. Not surprisingly, the most expensive apartments were all built during the bubble years in the early 1990s. The list is missing a few recent high-priced condos such as Toranomon Hills (3,000,000 ~ 4,000,000 Yen/sqm), Park Mansion Roppongi Hinokicho-koen (up to 10,000,000 Yen/sqm), and Branz Roppongi The Residence (2,800,000 Yen/sqm).
City in Kyushu buys former Yakuza office
Karatsu City in Saga Prefecture has purchased a former Yakuza office at a public auction. The city acquired the property at the request of both prefectural police and the prefectural bar association to prevent it from falling back into criminal hands.