New minpaku laws decidedly unpopular in Kyoto City
As at the end of August 2018, Kyoto City had only received 129 applications for short-term letting under the new minpaku laws that were introduced in June. Of those, 33 are located in exclusive residential zones where properties can only be rented out to guests for a maximum of 60 nights between January 15 and March 15, with some exceptions allowed for traditional machiya townhouses and homes where the host also lives on the premises. This pales in comparison to the total number of 7,028 applications made nationwide. In Kyoto Prefecture, excluding Kyoto City, only 18 applications have been received as at September 14.
Apartment rents in Tokyo increase for 10th month in a row
The average apartment rent in Tokyo’s 23 wards has increased year-on-year for the 10th month in a row. The average monthly rent in September was 3,504 Yen/sqm, up 6.6% from last year and up 1.2% from the previous month. Both Yokohama and Saitama cities saw a decline in year-on-year rents.
Liquefaction in Sapporo caused by poor soil conditions
The September 2018 Hokkaido Iburi Earthquake resulted in severe liquefaction in part of Sapporo’s Kiyota Ward, leaving roads caved in and homes leaning at dangerous angles. As of October 3, as many as 1,452 homes had suffered damage in Kiyota Ward. This wasn’t the first instance for the neighborhood with liquefaction observed during the 2003 Hokkaido Earthquake which had an epicenter 300 kilometers away. The liquefaction hazard map issued by the city had previously designated this area as being of high risk for liquefaction damage.
Floor space across Japan increases by 0.2% in 2018
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), the total floor space of buildings across Japan totaled 7.73 billion square meters (approx. 83 billion sq.ft) as at January 1, 2018, a 0.2% increase from last year. Housing stock, including both private and public housing, saw a 0.2% rise and accounted for 74.3% of the total.