MLIT Land White Paper 2013

On June 11, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) released the data from their 2013 White Paper on Land.

According to the report, land prices continue to fall across Japan although the rate of decline is shrinking. A greater number of survey locations saw an increase or stabilisation of land prices.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Land prices rise in majority of areas - MLIT LOOK Report

Commercial land around the Abenobashi Terminal Building (left) and Tokyo Sky Tree (right) were the only two locations to see prices rise between 3 and 6% over the quarter.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) the majority of survey locations for their quarterly Chika LOOK Report have recorded an increase in land prices.

Land price movements were measured in 150 locations throughout Japan, but primarily in the three major cities of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. 80 of those locations, or 53% of the total, recorded an increase in land prices, while 51 saw no change in prices. The remaining 19 locations saw prices fall somewhere between 0 and 3%.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Land prices close to bottoming out in Japan

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) announced the 'koji-chika' assessed land values on March 21. These prices are current as of January 1 2013. Residential and commercial land prices fell for the fifth continuous year, although the fall in values was smaller than the last year in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, signalling a possible bottoming out of real estate prices.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Mitsui buys development site in Harumi for 9 billion Yen

Mitsui Fudosan Residential have purchased a 8,800 sqm block of land in Harumi 2 Chome from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for 9 billion Yen (109 million USD). The price works out to approximately 1,023,000 Yen/sqm.

Mitsui recently purchased a 10,200 sqm site on the eastern side of this block from Taiheiyo Cement for 8 billion Yen. Although they have not yet decided on development plans, there is a chance that they will combine the two blocks and built a large-scale residential tower.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Hokkaido facing difficult task of regulating transactions on forestry

Regulations requiring advance notification of the sale of land containing a water source came into effect on October 1st, but Hokkaido is already facing the difficult task of identifying and contacting land owners.

In Hokkaido, 53 areas were designated for water resource preservation. Correspondence has been sent to the 4,000 affected land owners, but only 60% could be contacted. The whereabouts of the remaining land owners remains unknown.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Golf courses converted to solar farms across Japan

The Japanese government introduced a system whereby electric utility operators are obligated to purchase electricity produced by solar farms, and other renewable sources, at fixed prices. The system started from July 1, 2012. In order to benefit from the program, suppliers must obtain approval by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

Under the feed-in tariff (FIT), utilities will enter into 20-year terms to from solar power suppliers. The purchase price of solar power is expected to be set at 42 Yen per kilowatt-hour.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Nationwide land price declines shrink in 2012

On September 20, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) announced the results of the nationwide survey of land prices (chika-chosa). The average residential land price fell 2.5% (compared with a 3.2% fall in 2011), and the average commercial land price fell 3.1% (compared with a 4.0% fall in 2011). The rate of decline was smaller than normal this year, indicating that the market is heading towards a recovery. However, this is the 21st year of continual decreases in residential land prices, and the 5th year of continual decreases in commercial land prices.Read more

by Zoe Ward