Mitsubishi acquires Shibuya site for potential luxury condominium project

Mitsubishi Jisho Nanpeidaicho Site

Mitsubishi Jisho Residence and Cosmos Initia have acquired a large development site near Shibuya Station. Details have yet to be announced, but industry insiders suggest that, given the size of the land, it could be slated for a luxury condominium project.

Update: The project is called The Parkhouse Shibuya Nanpeidai. Pre-sales for Hong Kong-based buyers began in September 2017, with prices starting from around 145 million Yen. The 10-storey building will have approximately 100 apartments with completion by May 2019 or later.

The 3,300 sqm (35,500 sq.ft) site in Nanpeidaicho is located near the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel and a 5 minute walk from Shibuya Station’s South Exit. It was purchased from Japan Tobacco for an undisclosed price estimated somewhere in the several billion Yen range. The site included a 5-storey office building which is currently being demolished.Read more


Japan's commercial land prices increase for first time in 8 years

Chuo Ginza area
Tokyo's Ginza district dominated the land value rankings in 2016

For the first time in 8 years, commercial land prices in Japan saw an increase from the previous year. According to the 2016 ‘chika-koji’ assessed land values released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), the nationwide commercial land price increased by 0.9% from 2015.

In the Tokyo metropolitan area, commercial land values increased by 4.1% in 2016, up from a 2.9% increase in 2015.

The increase can be attributed to improving office conditions in city centres, and a surge in construction of hotels to meet the growing number of foreign tourists. Read more


Central Tokyo apartment sale prices drop as average building age increases

According to REINS, 2,543 second-hand apartments were sold across greater Tokyo in December, down 1.4% from the previous month but up 1.8% from 2014. The average apartment sale price was 28,640,000 Yen, down 1.8% from the previous month but up 0.6% from 2014. The average price per square meter was 454,400 Yen, down 1.2% from the previous month but up 1.3% from 2014. The average building age was 21.29 years (1.44 years older than the average in December 2014).

In the Tokyo metropolitan area 1,287 second-hand apartments were sold, down 14.2% from the previous month but up 3.0% from 2014. The average sale price was 35,770,000 Yen, down 1.0% from the previous month but up 2.0% from 2014. The average price per square meter was 610,100 Yen, down 1.5% from the previous month but up 2.8% from 2014. The average building age was 20.00 years (1.07 years old than the average in December 2014).

Central Tokyo’s 3 wards

In central Tokyo’s 3 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato), 158 apartments were sold, down 15.1% from the previous month but up 3.9% from 2014. The average sale price was 53,550,000 Yen, down 0.4% from the previous month and down 6.6% from 2014. The average price per square meter was 968,300 Yen, down 3.7% from the previous month and down 3.0% from 2014. Read more


Idle ocean-front land in Miura sold to Chiba buyer

Properst Miura Land 1

An idle parcel of ocean-front land in Miura, Kanagawa, will be sold to a Chiba-based company later this year. The 13.5 hectare (1.45 million sq.ft) site is currently owned by Properst, a Tokyo-based developer. The sale price has not been disclosed and it is unclear what the new buyer plans to do with the site.

The site was developed by Seibu Railway between 1955 and 1965. It was originally an inlet, but the land was reclaimed to create a potential tourist destination. Properst acquired the site in early 2007 for 8.1 billion Yen (approx. 67.5 million USD at the time) and planned to construct several apartment buildings containing 1,400 units, a 140-room hotel, marina, retail, 152 residential building lots, and parkland. The project would have housed around 3,000 residents. This was exciting news for Miura City, which had been battling a declining and ageing population.Read more


Rosenka land values up in urban areas, but down nationwide

According to the National Tax Agency, rosenka land values across Japan in 2015 fell for the 7th year in a row, although the decline appears to be bottoming out. This year nationwide land values dropped by 0.4%, which is an improvement from 2014 which saw values drop by 0.7%. In Tokyo, rosenka values increased by 2.1%, after seeing a 1.8% rise in 2014. In Osaka, values increased by 0.5%.

A rapid increase in foreign tourists and a boost in investment in central Tokyo from foreign funds has helped to pull up property values and retail rents.

Midosuji Boulevard in front of Osaka’s Hankyu Department Store saw rosenka land values rise by 10.1% from last year to 8,320,000 Yen/sqm, while Meieki Dori Avenue in front of Nagoya Station saw values increase by 11.5% to 7,360,000 Yen/sqm.Read more


Foreigners buy 174 ha of forestry in 2014, down 10% from 2013

According to the Forestry Agency, there were 13 cases of foreign funds acquiring a total of 174 hectares of forestry across Japan in 2014. The buyers, which were private individuals and corporations, were primarily from the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong and Singapore, and the reasons for purchase were either asset holding or development.

Buyers from Hong Kong accounted for just 8% of the land acquired by foreigners, while buyers registered in the British Virgin Islands accounted for 78% of the land acquired.

Hokkaido is the main destination of foreign funds

Over 99% of the forestry was located in Hokkaido. Buyers from the British Virgin Islands acquired 135 hectares of forestry in Hokkaido’s Iburi sub-prefecture for the purpose of real estate development. The British Virgin Islands is a popular tax haven that may also be used by Japanese investors, so the actual nationality of these buyers is unknown.Read more


Guidelines for land with missing owners to be decided

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) is considering introducing measures to deal with the rising number of land allotments with missing owners. Guidelines could be put in place within the year.

Land in regional areas is often left neglected as the younger population moves to urban areas. Land with little to no value is rarely transferred to heirs as the processing fees can sometimes exceed the value of the land. As such, there are a growing number of blocks of land left in the names of long-since deceased owners. In 2012 it was estimated that as much as 86,000 hectares of agricultural and forest land could have missing or unknown owners by 2020. This number is expected to reach 570,000 hectares (almost 8 times the size of Singapore) by 2050.Read more