June house and apartment data from AtHome

AtHome announced the latest price data on new and secondhand homes and apartments across greater Tokyo for the month of June 2012.

-- New houses --

In the greater Tokyo area (Tokyo 23-ku, West Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama), the average listing price of a brand new house was 31,580,000 Yen, down 3% from June 2011. This is the 5th continuous month of decline, however listing prices were up 0.5% from May.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Real estate transaction volume reaches 4 year high

The volume of real estate transactions in Japan has started to pick up, showing signs of an economic recovery.

In the first half of 2012, transactions of office and residential buildings in major cities (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya etc), reached the highest level in four years.

The total volume of transactions by listed companies, including REITs, reached 1.1375 trillion Yen (14.5 billion USD). This is 10% higher than the first half of 2011, and is the highest level since the second half of 2008 which was the time of the Lehman Shock.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Prices falling, but apartment transactions increasing

The downward trend of the price of second-hand apartments in Tokyo's 23-ku is increasing in pace. From the end of 2011, the price of brand new apartments have been in decline, which has put additional downwards pressure on the price of older buildings.

However, the fall in prices and historically low interest rates* are having a positive effect on the number of property transactions. (*Out of all private banks, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Resona Bank both currently have the lowest 10-year fixed interest rates on home loans of 1.4%.)

Even buildings over 30 years old (1982 and earlier) are becoming more popular as long-term renters move towards making their first purchase.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Rosenka land values drop for 4th year in a row, but signs of recovery in urban areas

On July 2, the National Tax Agency announced the 2012 Rosenka land valuations. The average land value across 358,000 sites assessed nationwide fell 2.8% from 2011. This is the fourth continuous year of decline, however the rate of decline shrunk 0.3 points from 2011.Read more

by Zoe Ward

June office vacancy rates hit new high

Miki Shoji announced the results from their survey on office vacancy rates for the month of June 2012. In central Tokyo's 5 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya), the average vacancy rate increased by 0.03 points from May to 9.43%. This is the third month of continuous increases. June's vacancy rate is at a record high level, beating the record set in May.Read more

by Zoe Ward

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