Fixed asset tax reduction on new homes may be extended
December 12, 2013Japan Property TaxesReal Estate News,All,Taxes
The government is considering extending the fixed asset tax reduction on new homes for another two years. Currently, the annual fixed asset taxes are halved for the first 3 ~ 5 years on new homes and apartments. Unless extended, the special tax relief measure is set to expire at the end of March 2014.
There are concerns about a slump in new home sales following the planned increase in consumption tax from April 2014. As a result, the government is looking at measures to counter-act any possible downturn in sales activity. Read more
Central Tokyo's first 5-storey wooden building completed
December 11, 2013GinzaNew Construction,Real Estate News,All,Tokyo
Last month, Mitsui Home completed the construction of a 5-storey wood-frame building in Ginza.This is the second 2x4 wood-framed 5-storey building to be built in Japan, and is the first in central Tokyo. In April 2012, a 5-storey apartment building was competed in Setagaya-ku.Read more
Residential yields and vacancy rates in Minato-ku - December 2013
December 10, 2013average rent tokyo,Rental yield in TokyoReal Estate News,Rental Market,Market Information,All,Tokyo
According to real estate listing site Homes, the average yield on an apartment in Minato-ku in December was 6.0%, up 0.2 points from last month. The average yield across Tokyo remains unchanged at 7.6%.
The vacancy rate in Minato-ku remains unchanged at 9.9% and 11.0% across Tokyo.
The average asking price of a secondhand apartment was 715,557 Yen/sqm as of December 1, up 1.34% from the previous month. The average asking price for land was 1,071,212 Yen, up 0.17% from last month.Read more
Market for secondhand apartments improving
December 9, 2013real estate market tokyoReal Estate News,All,Tokyo
The prices of secondhand apartments are moving on up. According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70 sqm apartment in greater Tokyo was 28,210,000 Yen in October, up 1.1% from the previous month. This was the first time in 8 months that the price had exceeded 28 million Yen.
Unlike new apartments, private sales of second-hand apartments are exempt from consumption tax (it is, however, charged on the brokerage fees). While the planned increase in the consumption tax rate may not directly impact the resale market, sellers are starting to see that the market is improving and are in less of a hurry to sell.Read more
October rental apartment transactions - AtHome
December 6, 2013Real Estate News,Rental Market,All,Tokyo
According to AtHome's data on rental transactions in greater Tokyo for the month of October, the number of new rental contracts signed fell 3.4% from October 2012 to 18,668.
In Tokyo's 23-ku, 8,490 contracts were signed, down 0.7% from last year. This is the first time in 12 months that the figure has fallen below last year's figure. Apartments less than 30 sqm (323 sqft) in size comprised 46.2% of transactions, down 6.7 points from October 2012. Meanwhile, 37.4% of transactions were for apartments 30 ~ 50 sqm (323 ~ 538 sqft) in size, up 9 points from last year. Apartments over 70 sqm (753 sqft) made up 3.8% of transactions, down 9.4 points from 2012.Read more
Mizuho to raise interest rates this month
December 5, 2013Real Estate News,All,Home Loans / Mortgages
Mizuho Bank announced that they will increase the prime interest rate on their 10-year fixed-rate mortgage from 1.45% to 1.50% for loan contracts signed in December.Read more
TAS Corp's rental market data for September
December 4, 2013rental market japan,rental market tokyoReal Estate News,Rental Market,All,Osaka,Tokyo,Kyoto
According to TAS Corp's latest report on the rental market for apartments, the average vacancy rate in Tokyo's 23-ku was 11.56% in September, up 0.07 points from the previous month but down 0.08 points from September 2012.Read more