Korea Town leads to rise in land values

The South Korean pop culture boom in Shinjuku's "Korea Town" has led to a large increase in surrounding land values.

According to the 2012 Koji-Chika assessed land values, the Shinokubo area in Shinjuku which has a large South Korean population has seen land values increase by 1.7% over the past year. While the nationwide residential land values have fallen by 2.3% and 3.1% in business districts, Korea Town has managed to escape from the declining land values.Read more


New apartments in Tokyo on sale in April

According to real estate information service provider, Mercury, a total of 92 new buildings with 9742 apartments will go on sale in greater Tokyo in April. The number of new buildings is down 28% from March and the total number of apartments decreased by 29%.Read more


Company forced to pay compensation after lying about value of apartments

In a ruling that could make many real estate agencies nervous, a Tokyo-based real estate company has been ordered to pay 47 million Yen (573,000 USD) to a buyer after it was found that the company lied about the true value of two apartments in order to make the sale. Toshin Partners made false statements about the low-valued properties in order to sell them at a higher value.Read more


Yokohama developer teams up with Shanghai real estate company

Yokotoshi Kaihatsu announced on March 26 that they have formed a business partnership with Shanghai Dewei Real Estate. The business partnership was formed as Yokotoshi is nearing insolvency. Dewei will hold a 36% interest in Yokotoshi and  will receive two seats on the board of directors.

With the steep rise in real estate prices in China's mainland, investors are seeking offshore investment opportunities. The partnership aims to introduce Japanese real estate to Chinese buyers. Dewei will also provide real estate services to Japanese businesses and clients who are looking for office and residential space in China.Read more


Asahi Kasei to rebuild two condominiums in Shibuya

Asahi Kasei Fudousan Residence Corp will be rebuilding two small apartment buildings in Shibuya-ku.

The first is "Udagawacho Jutaku" (3-3 Udagawacho) which is located alongside "Shibuya Koen Dori Avenue and next to the Shibuya Tobu Hotel. The street includes stores such as Parco, Gap and Opening Ceremony. The current 7-storey building has just 16 apartments and was completed in 1961. Approval from all apartment owners was obtained in September 2010 and demolition began last month.Read more


Carparking as an economic indicator

The Nikkei's Sumai section has an interesting table showing the change in the ratio of carparks to apartments in new buildings across greater Tokyo.

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AtHome Tokyo sales data for February 2012

AtHome released their data on the listing prices and contracted prices for brand new and secondhand properties in greater Tokyo for February 2012.

The average contracted price for a brand new house in greater Tokyo increased by 2.3% from February of 2011 to 32,320,000 Yen. This is the 14th continuous month of price increases. West Tokyo saw an increase of over 5%. In Tokyo's 23 wards, the contracted price saw a large fall.Read more