Realtor sued after promising landowners they could sell worthless land to Chinese buyers at inflated prices
114 landowners are seeking damages from an Osaka-based real estate company after claiming that they were encouraged to pay for land survey fees with the premise that they could sell their otherwise worthless forest land to Chinese buyers for high prices.
On November 28, a class-action lawsuit seeking 47 million Yen (390,000 USD) in damages was filed in the Osaka District Court against 13 employees of Mirai Tochi Corporation and two other related companies. According to the complaint, 114 people aged from 35 to 89 from across Japan were approached by the company between 2011 and 2014. They allege that they were encouraged to pay the company as much as 300,000 ~ 700,000 Yen in land survey and maintenance fees with the hope that the land could then be sold to Chinese buyers.
The company is also currently being prosecuted for fraud in the Nara District Court. According to the Nara prefectural police, the case, which also includes their predecessor Toshow Management, involves damages exceeding 1.36 billion Yen (11.3 million USD) and 5,000 victims in 36 prefectures across the country and overseas.Read more
Residential yields and vacancy rates in Minato-ku - December 2014
According to real estate listing site Homes, the average gross yield on an apartment in Minato-ku in December was 5.9%, up 0.6 points from the previous month but down 0.1 points from last year. The average gross yield across Tokyo was 6.8%, down 0.1 points from the previous month and down 0.8 points from last year.
The vacancy rate remains unchanged at 9.9% in Minato-ku and 11.0% across Tokyo.
The average asking price of a secondhand apartment in Minato-ku was 833,542 Yen/sqm as of December 1, up 3.8% from the previous month and up 16.5% from last year. The average asking price for land was 1,258,787 Yen/sqm, down 1.1% from the previous month but up 17.5% from last year.Read more
Suginami-ku buys historic villa for 3.1 billion Yen
Suginami ward in Tokyo has purchased the historic Tekigai Villa in Ogikubo 2 Chome for 3.1 billion Yen and plans to preserve the house and restore its gardens.
Tekigaiso was built in 1927 and designed by architect Ito Chuta. Ito was a leading architect in early 20th century Imperial Japan and had designed the original Meiji Jingu Shrine, the Okura Museum of Art near Hotel Okura in Akasaka, and the Tsukiji Hongan-ji Temple.Read more
Tokyu Fudosan Holdings redeveloping Dogenzaka HQ
On November 7, Tokyu Fudosan Holdings announced that they are redeveloping their head office building and neighbouring buildings in Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku.
The Shibuya Nanpeidai District Redevelopment Plan covers a 4,100 sqm site alongside the 246 Expressway and 500 meters from Shibuya Station. It is expected that redevelopment will begin once Tokyu have relocated their office to Minami Aoyama in 2015.
The following buildings will be redeveloped:
- Shin Nanpeidai Tokyu Building (1974)
- Nanpeidai Tokyu Building / Tokyu Skyline Apartments (1958)
- Shibuya TOD Building (1989)
Tokyo apartment sales in November 2014
The following is a selection of apartments that were sold in central Tokyo during the month of November 2014:Read more