30+ year old apartments and houses growing in popularity

According to REINS the share of properties sold that are over 30 years old is growing. In 2012, the average age of an apartment sold in greater Tokyo was 18.97 years, 0.70 years higher than 2011. Apartments over 30 years old comprised 20.6% of total second-hand apartment sales - up from 18.20% in 2011. The average age of a house sold was 19.71 years, up 0.34 years from 2011. Houses over 30 years old comprised 18.5% of total second-hand house sales - up from 17.5% in 2011. Read more

by Zoe Ward

Living allowances of university students falls to lowest level

The following article may be useful to those investing in student-oriented accommodation.

The average living allowance of a private university or college student living away from home and starting university in 2012 was 89,500 Yen/month (USD 917). This is the twelfth year of continuous decline.

The survey was conducted by the Tokyo Private University Teachers Union. A total of 5,349 students from 17 universities across Tokyo were surveyed between May and July in 2012. Of those students, 2,128 students were living away from home.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Pirate-themed house in Yamanashi

Canadian Home Yamanashi has recently completed a 3-bedroom home built to resemble a pirate ship. The home-owner, Masaru Watanabe, wanted a house that would resemble the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean. Mr. Watanabe said at first he had difficulty finding a builder who could create such an unusual home.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Earthquake insurance premiums to rise 15.5%

Earthquake insurance premiums on households are expected to rise by an average of 15.5% from July 2014. The reason for the increase is due to the growing risk of another major earthquake. Also, the insurance industry saw a surge in payouts following the Tohoku earthquake which has drained the reserve fund. 

The average annual premium on a concrete or steel-framed residence with 10 million Yen coverage in Tokyo would increase from 16,900 Yen to 20,200 Yen. In disaster-hit areas in Iwate and Fukushima Prefectures, premiums may rise by as much as 30%. Meanwhile, some areas such as Yamagata Prefecture may see premiums fall.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo has second most expensive luxury home market (and other Forbes furphies)

Forbes recently published an article on the world's most expensive cities for luxury real estate citing Savills 'World Cities Review Report' and used some interesting figures for Tokyo, which was ranked second to Hong Kong.

From the Forbes article (the link is provided at the bottom of this page):

[The] average home size in Japan's capital city is an expansive 16,000 sqft, for an average 5,000 pounds per square foot. In other words an opulent mansion-sized home in Tokyo totes a market value of $121.6 million.

Let's start with the average home size of 16,000 sqft, which is approximately 1480 sqm. While I don't doubt that there are several homes in Tokyo of this size or larger owned by billionaires, the average home is closer to 100 sqm (1076 sqft), while luxury residences can range anywhere in size from 200 to 600 sqm (2152 ~ 6456 sqft).Read more

by Zoe Ward

Chongryon Headquarters purchased by religious organisation

*Update: Chief Priest Ekan Ikeguchi of Buddhist temple Saifukuji announced at a press conference on May 10 that he can no longer purchase the building as the temple was unable to obtain financing. As a result, he will lose his 500 million Yen deposit and be banned from bidding on the building when it goes up for auction again this summer.*

A Kagoshima-based religious organisation made the highest bid to purchase the Chongryon Headquarters / North Korean Embassy in Tokyo's Chiyoda-ku. Saifukuji - a part of the Shingon Buddhism sect - bid 4.519 billion Yen (48 million USD) for the property.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