Earthquake insurance in Japan
If you own real estate in Japan, you may with to obtain optional earthquake insurance to provide some coverage against earthquake damage. Earthquake insurance payouts from the 2011 Tohoku disaster totalled 1.3 trillion Yen. Not only were homes lost or damaged from the shaking, but fires and the devastating tsunami caused significant damage.
If you are a property owner, the main type of insurance is fire insurance. However, ordinary fire insurance does not provide coverage against tsunamis or fires caused by an earthquake. For coverage against earthquakes, a property owner must obtain an additional earthquake insurance policy on top of their fire insurance.
Earthquake insurance premiums are generally the same regardless of the insurance company. Fees will vary, however, depending on the type of construction, size of the property, and where the property is located, as some areas have been assigned higher risk levels than others.Read more
Tokyo Apartment Sales in February 2016
The following is a selection of apartments that were sold in central Tokyo during the month of February 2016:Read more
One of Tokyo's oldest Ryokans to be demolished this year
One of Tokyo’s older ryokans (traditional Japanese inns) is set to close at the end of March, ending 112 years of operations. Choyokan-honke is located in Hongo, Bunkyo-ku - an area that was once bustling with ryokans and old bathhouses. During the 1920s there were over 120 ryokans in the neighbourhood, but by the 1960s the number had dropped to around 50.
The building is schedule to be demolished in the summertime. It will then be replaced with a high-rise condominium.Read more
Tax Agency to crack down on high-rise apartment sales
The National Tax Agency and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications are considering introducing changes to the tax valuation of apartments in high-rises to counter-act a growing trend of wealthy Japanese buying up apartments on high floors to reduce their inheritance taxes. Changes could be introduced from as early as 2018.
When calculating inheritance taxes, assets such as cash and shares are valued based on their face value, while real estate is valued based on its ‘rosenka’ tax value which can be much lower than the actual market value.
For apartments in a high-rise building, the tax value is currently based on both the size of the apartment and the rosenka value of the small share of land. Tax values do not take into account the floor, views or facilities, so an apartment on the 2nd floor would have the same tax value as an apartment on the top floor, assuming they are the same size. The top floor unit, however, has a market value much higher than the lower floor unit.Read more
Japan’s house price index for November 2015
On February 24, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism released the latest residential price index for Japan.
The nationwide price index for apartments was 123.5, up 8.1% from November 2014. This is the 33rd consecutive month to record a year-on-year increase.Read more
Roppongi Hills apartment to be auctioned off after charity donation
The former owner of a 2-Bedroom apartment on the 19th floor in Roppongi Hills Residence B has donated the property to Oita Prefecture’s Board of Education as part of his estate. The late owner, who passed away in 2014, was the grandchild of the former principal of the Oita Prefecture School for the Blind.
The Board of Education held an open auction to sell the apartment, with the proceeds going to the prefecture. Bids were open until February 17th.
The minimum bid was set at 140,790,000 Yen (1.25 million USD), which works out to around 1,877,000 Yen/sqm (1,550 USD/sq.ft). Read more