Tokyo metro apartment prices increase for 46th consecutive month

According to REINS, 3,190 second-hand apartments were sold across greater Tokyo in July, up 3.9% from the previous month and up 13.6% from last year. The average sale price was 29,990,000 Yen, down 0.6% from the previous month but up 4.5% from last year. The average price per square meter was 473,300 Yen, down 0.9% from the previous month but up 4.7% from last year. This is the 43rd month in a row to see a year-on-year increase in the sale price per square meter. The average building age was 20.46 years.

In the Tokyo metropolitan area 1,592 second-hand apartments were sold, up 0.6% from the previous month and up 13.3% from last year. The average sale price was 37,470,000 Yen, up 0.1% from the previous month and up 7.7% from last year. The average price per square meter was 635,000 Yen, down 1.1% from the previous month but up 5.3% from last year. This is the 46th month in a row to see a year-on-year increase in the sale price per square meter. The average building age was 18.79 years.

Central Tokyo’s 3 wards

In central Tokyo’s 3 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato), 205 second-hand apartments were sold, down 1.0% from the previous month but up 24.2% from last year. The average sale price was 54,010,000 Yen, up 4.1% from the previous month but down 0.2% from last year. The average price per square meter was 1,010,400 Yen, up 1.5% from the previous month but down 0.8% from last year. The average building age was 15.83 years.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Japan’s new apartment price-to-income ratios reach 24 year high

According to Tokyo Kantei, the average price of a brand new apartment across Japan in 2015 was 7.66 times the average annual income, up 0.49 points from 2014. This is the highest ratio seen since 1992, when the ratio was 7.64. Average new apartment prices increased by 7.1% from 2014, while incomes increased by only 0.2%.

The price-to-income ratio of a brand new apartment apartment in greater Tokyo was 10.99, up 1.31 points from 2014. The average price of a 70 sqm apartment was estimated at 56,160,000 Yen in 2015, up 12.7% from 2014. For the first time since the asset bubble in 1990 all three prefectures and the Tokyo metropolitan area in greater Tokyo had price-to-income ratios of 10 and higher.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Forecast of new apartment prices for next 10 years

According to a medium-term forecast by the Japan Real Estate Institute, the price of brand new apartments in Tokyo’s 23 wards is expected to shift to a downwards trend from 2021. This would coincide with the release of the apartments built for the 2020 Olympics Athlete’s Village onto the market.

In 2016, the average price of a brand new apartment is expected to increase by 2.5% from 2015, with the price per square meter reaching 959,000 Yen/sqm. Prices are forecast to continue to increase over the next few years by around 0.2 ~ 1.2% annually, which is a slower rate than the 6.1% in 2014 and 8.9% seen in 2015.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo Apartment Sales in July 2016

The following is a selection of apartments that were sold in central Tokyo during the month of July 2016:Read more

by Zoe Ward

Luxury apartment sales dominating Japan’s property market

Recently a 300 sqm penthouse apartment with views of Tokyo Tower was reported to have sold for 1 billion Yen (approximately 9.5 million USD). The surprising aspect of the sale was that the apartment was one of several unsold developer-owned units in a building that was completed back in 2007.

The developer had tried for years to sell off the final remaining units after sales hit a slump following the global financial crisis in 2008. In late 2015, the developer re-started sales and has been able to sell some units at prices higher than pre-2008 levels.Read more

by Zoe Ward