Mitsui's new high-rise in Harumi
Mitsui Fudosan Residential have announced plans for a new condominium to be built on the site next-door to The Parkhouse Harumi Towers in Tokyo's bayside Harumi area.
The project is currently called the Chuo-ku Harumi 2 Chome Project (the official name was later announced as Park Tower Harumi). Construction was scheduled to begin in July 2014 with completion by June 2017, however in mid-2015 it was announced that the expected completion date has been delayed until June 2018. Sales have also been postponed.
*Update: Sales promotion activity re-started again in December 2016, with sales scheduled to start in June 2017. Completion is now scheduled for May 2019, with apartments ready for delivery by September 2019.
The 49 48-storey condominium will be 180m 178m tall and contain 1,120 1,084 apartments. Read more
Up to 100 illegal sharehouses in Tokyo
An investigation by a non-government organisation has found that illegal share houses may be operating in as many as 100 buildings in Tokyo. In many cases, commercial offices and apartments have been split into tiny sleeping spaces as small as 2.4 ~ 5.2 sqm (26 ~ 56 sqft). Many of the sleeping spaces have ceiling heights of just 1.2 meters and do not have windows or proper ventilation.
There are concerns over the safety of tenants in these share houses as they may violate the Building Standards Act and fire safety regulations. The Act requires ceiling heights to be a minimum of 2.1 meters and rooms are required to have a minimum floor area of 7 sqm (75 sqft).Read more
Central Tokyo secondhand apartment prices up 15.2% from last year
According to REINS, the number of second-hand apartment sales in greater Tokyo for the month of June 2013 increased by 17.9% from last year to 3,149 apartments. This is the 10th month in a row where sales have exceeded those of the same month one year prior.
The average sale price was 25,740,000 Yen (257,000 USD), up 6.9% from last year and up 0.1% from last month. The average sale price per square meter was 399,700 Yen/sqm, up 5.9% from June 2012 but down 0.4% from last month. The average apartment age was 19.12 years.
In central Tokyo's 3 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato), the average sale price of 45,500,000 Yen (454,000 USD) was 15.2% higher than last year and 3.6% higher than last month. The average price per square meter was 798,300 Yen, up 9.4% from last year and up 1.7% from last month.Read more
Tokyo may sell air rights above expressways
In order to speed up the redevelopment of ageing buildings which may be at risk of causing damage in a major earthquake, the air rights above highways may be sold to be used on neighboring sites.
The Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation, Akihiro Ota, has expressed his desire to see this enacted as soon as possible.Read more
MLIT White Paper on home ownership
On July 2, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) released their 2012 White Paper. The theme of the report explored the living situations and demographics of Japan's younger generation.
Home Ownership
Home ownership rates in Japan shrunk between 1983 and 1998, but began to pick up in 2008. The average rate across all age groups is around 60%.Read more