Housing starts plummet near Kumamoto's semiconductor plants despite strong demand
Despite the excitement surrounding the new semiconductor plants in Kumamoto, new housing starts in Kikuyo and Ōzu towns have dropped drastically. In February of 2024, housing starts were over 30% higher than they were 12 months prior, but in March they had dropped 50% y-o-y.Read more
Mitsubishi vacating Yokohama office tower
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is relocating its head office operations from Yokohama to central Tokyo, joining related companies in aggregating its operations in one central location.Read more
Rental apartments in Tokyo see a drop in deposits but a rise in key money
Residential rental listings offering no deposit are on the rise across greater Tokyo, but those offering no key or gift money are becoming less common at certain price points.
Why would landlords be reducing deposits but increasing gift money?
It’s a combination of both market forces and maximizing total rental income for a landlord.Read more
Japan’s land values increase at an expanding pace in 2024
On July 1, the National Tax Agency published the annual ‘rosenka’ land tax values, with the nationwide average rising for the 3rd year in a row. This year's 2.3% growth outpaced last year’s increase of 1.5% and 2022’s increase of 0.5%, and is the highest rate of growth in 16 years.Read more
Landlords slashing rents in Harumi Flag
Harumi Flag, the conversion of the Athlete’s Village on Tokyo Bay, is facing an oversupply issue as hundreds of investors and landlords put their units on the market at once. In May 2024, NHK reported that over 500 units had been put up for rent or resale by investors.
Delivery of the units to buyers began in January 2024. By May, almost 330 apartments were advertised for rent.Read more
Recent reported commercial transactions in Tokyo
Let’s take a look at some recently reported sales on commercial buildings, including multi-family, office and retail. It’s important to keep in mind that reporting transactions is entirely voluntarily and the vast majority or real estate sold in Japan goes un-reported. That means we have a very limited dataset to work with.Read more
Yokohama and Osaka see rapid rises in rents
While rent prices seem to be tapering off in Tokyo this year, two other Japanese cities have seen staggering rises over the past four months.Read more