Second-hand apartment prices up 1.4% in April

According to REINS, the average sale price of a second-hand apartment in greater Tokyo in April was 25,560,000 Yen, up 1.4% from April 2012, but down 1.5% from last month. The average price per square meter was 393,600 Yen, up 2.5% from last year but down 0.9% from last month. 

Chiba saw the biggest change in prices over 12 months, with the average price up 7.3% to 17,620,000 Yen. The average price per square meter increased by 8.1% to 243,900 Yen.

Apartment prices in Tokyo's Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato-ku were down 3.4% from April 2012 to 43,840,000 Yen, while the price per sqm was down 0.5% to 767,000 Yen.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Village Vanguard launches real estate site

Kitsch store and burger joint Village Vanguard has launched a real estate portal to feature the quirky and offbeat apartments that you might not normally see in the window of a typical agency.

Visitors to the site (http://vv-realestate.com) can search for rental apartments, homes, shops, carparks or offices and can narrow down their search with special keywords including:

  • Retro / vintage style
  • Industrial style
  • Slow, organic west coast lifestyle
  • Japanese tea room style
  • Street art style
  • A room inspired by Oasis' first album (see below) Read more

by Zoe Ward

Former Yakuza arrested for squatting

A former Yakuza leader was arrested by police after allegedly squatting in an apartment in Tokyo's Itabashi-ku for 14 months. In early 2012, the 36-year old suspect had asked a real estate agency to view the apartment, which was advertised for rent, and was given a key to inspect it himself. He never returned the key, nor signed a rental contract.

Gas and electricity were connected by the suspect, and he had even installed a security camera.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Foreign buyers pushing up land prices in Japan?

Foreign buyers are reportedly joining the apartment buying frenzy in Japan. The recent weakening of the Yen by up to 20% means an offshore buyer can now save as much as 20 million Yen when buying a 100 million Yen apartment (assuming they were initially planning to buy last year but put it off until now).Read more

by Zoe Ward

Apartment prices skyrocket in Sendai

According to the latest data released by Tokyo Kantei, the average list price of a second-hand apartment in Sendai City in the first quarter of 2013 is 35.5% higher than in early 2011.

Prior to the Tohoku disaster, average apartment prices had dropped to 565,000 Yen per Tsubo* (171,200 Yen/sqm). Following the disaster, prices have since risen to 766,000 Yen per Tsubo (232,100 Yen/sqm).Read more

by Zoe Ward

Office vacancy rates in April - Miki Shoji

According to Miki Shoji's Office Report for April, 2013, vacancy rates improved but rents continued to fall. The office vacancy rate in Tokyo's central business districts (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya) dropped by 0.02 points to 8.54%. This is the second month of decline. The vacancy rate in brand new buildings was 17.31%, down 5.93 points from last month. Read more

by Zoe Ward

The last Dojunkai to be demolished in June

While the 84-year old Uenoshita Apartments in Tokyo's Taito-ku may have miraculously survived the Great Tokyo Air Raid in 1945, it is not immune from re-development as the wrecking ball is set to swing on the apartment building next month.Read more

by Zoe Ward