New apartment prices in Tokyo up 26%

According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, 2,651 new apartments were released for sale across greater Tokyo in February, down 24.1% from last year but up 45.2% from the previous month. Record snowfall across Tokyo in February caused some developers to postpone sales until March, which caused the drop in numbers.

Demand still remains strong with a contract rate of 80.6%, up 4.2 points from last year and up 2.0 points from January. Read more

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo bayside apartment bubble to burst after Olympics?

Tokyo Bay IslandsThere are currently 149 large-scale apartment buildings (those with a total floor space of over 10,000 sqm) planned in Tokyo's 23 wards. Of those, several projects located in the bayside area are of a major scale with a floor space of over 100,000 sqm.

What impact could this future supply have on the apartment market on these manmade islands in Tokyo Bay?Read more

by Zoe Ward

Chika-koji land prices in major cities up for first time in 6 years - MLIT

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) announced the 2014 'chika-koji' assessed land values on March 18. According to the latest data, both commercial and residential land prices rose in Japan's three major cities for the first time in six years.

In Greater Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, residential land prices were up 0.5% and commercial land prices were up 1.6% over the 12 months to January 1, 2014.

In central Tokyo, residential land prices were up 5.9% in Minato-ku, 8.7% in Chuo-ku and 6.0% in Chiyoda-ku after negligible changes in 2013. In fact, residential and commercial land prices increased in each of Tokyo's 23 special wards.

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by Zoe Ward

Secondhand apartment sales in February - REINS

According to REINS, 3,311 second-hand apartments were sold across greater Tokyo in February, up 23.2% from January but down 0.2% from February 2013. This is the first time in 18 months where the number of apartment sales have been lower than they were 12 months prior.

The Tokyo Metropolitan area was the only area to record an increase in year-on-year sales, while Kanagawa Prefecture recorded a 6.6% drop in sales figures.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Residential yields and vacancy rates in Minato-ku - March 2014

According to real estate listing site Homes, the average gross yield on an apartment in Minato-ku in March was 5.5%, up 0.1 points from February. The average gross yield across Tokyo was 7.3%, down 0.1 points from the previous month.

The vacancy rate remains unchanged at 9.9% in Minato-ku and 11.0% across Tokyo.

The average asking price of a secondhand apartment in Minato-ku was 779,828 Yen/sqm as of March 1, up 2.7% from the previous month. The average asking price for land was 1,063,939 Yen/sqm, down 0.8%.Read more

by Zoe Ward

1 in 8 households in Japan live in an apartment

According to Tokyo Kantei, 11.94% of households in Japan live in a condominium apartment. The Tokyo metropolitan area has the highest percentage with 25.90% of households living in apartments.

  • Tokyo: 25.90%
  • Kanagawa Prefecture: 22.17%
  • Osaka: 18.20%Read more

by Zoe Ward

Secondhand apartment prices in January - Tokyo Kantei

According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70 sqm (753 sqft) second-hand apartment in Tokyo's 23 wards was 41,080,000 Yen in January, up 1.0% from the previous month and up 4.2% from January 2013. The average apartment age was 20.6 years.

In central Tokyo's six wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, Bunkyo and Shibuya), the average apartment price was 55,680,000 Yen, up 1.4% from the previous month and up 8.1% from last year. The average apartment age was 20.9 years.Read more

by Zoe Ward