Apartment prices in Saitama up 21.1%

According to AtHome, the average sale price on a secondhand apartment in greater Tokyo was 21,580,000 Yen (273,000 USD) in May 2012. This is a decline of 0.4% from May 2011 and is the second continuous month of decline.

Chiba and Saitama, however, both saw relatively large increases in the average sale price.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Supply of family-type apartments down 60% from peak

A recent survey by the Haseko Research Institute has found that the supply of brand new family-type* apartments totaled 12,588 units in 2011 - just 28.3% of the total apartments to hit the market last year.

While this is the second year where the ratio has increased, it is still at a low level compared to the early to mid 2000s. Compared to the peak in 2005, the current supply has fallen by over 60%.

*For the purpose of this survey, family-type apartments are those sized between 60 - 80 sqm (645 - 860 sqft) and priced under 40 million Yen.

Source:
The Asahi Shimbun, May 2, 2012.

by Zoe Ward

Contract rate in greater Tokyo exceeds 80%

The contract rate on condominiums in greater Tokyo reached 81.8% in April. This is the first time since February 2011 where the rate has exceeded 80%. The high percentage was helped by strong sales of large-scale condominiums, and signals a change towards positive market conditions.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Apartment price to income ratio worsens

According to research by Tokyo Kantei, the average new apartment price in Japan is 6.27 times the average annual income. This is an increase of 0.26 points from 2010, indicating an increased difficulty in purchasing homes.

The average price to income ratio for a secondhand apartment (10 years old)  was 4.32 (0.26 points higher than 2010).Read more

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo's secondhand apartment market remains bearish

Data released by Tokyo Kantei has shown that the average price for a 70 sqm (753 sqft) secondhand apartment in Tokyo's 23 wards in March 2011 fell 5.5% from March of the previous year.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Kansai's most expensive neighborhood is not where you think

Shinpoincho, Tennoji-ku

The most expensive neighborhoods in the Kansai area are typically considered to be Ashiya and Kurakuen, both in Hyogo Prefecture.

However, according to the kouji-chika land assessment values, the most expensive residential land in Kansai is in the Shinpoincho area in Osaka's Tennoji-ku.

Shinpoincho has been in the number one spot for the past eleven years, yet remains relatively unknown as it does not have the same name recognition as the Ashiya, Tezukayama or Nara's Gakuenmae neighborhoods.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Office vacancy rates down for second month

According to Miki Shoji, office building vacancy rates in Tokyo's central 5 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, and Shibuya) fell 0.11 points at the end of March to 9.04%. This is the second continuous month where vacancy rates have fallen. However, the lower vacancy rates are not a sign of a market recovery but are due to falling office rents.Read more

by Zoe Ward