Harumi's office market woes continue

News broadcaster NHK has now picked up on the struggling office market conditions around Tokyo Bay, particularly Harumi island. Of interest is the Harumi Island Triton Square office complex. The landmark project was completed in 2001 with a shopping mall inspired by Southern Europe. Above, there are four office blocks with a total floor area of 383,300 m2 (4.1 million sq.ft).

Office occupancy was great up until five years ago, with some of the towers fully leased up. Now, there is around 10,000 tsubo or 33,000 m2 of vacant space. One of the office towers has a vacancy rate of 20%.Read more


Nozawa Onsen’s housing shortage

A shortage of housing in Nozawa Onsen is creating headaches for new residents. The bustling hot spring and ski resort village had entered into a decline in the 1990s and 2000s as the domestic ski boom waned, but has seen a recovery since the 2010s as foreigners descended on the mountainous destination, opening up tourism and accommodation businesses.Read more


Almost 80% of young renters want an apartment building less than 20 yrs old

AtHome conducted a nationwide survey of renters in their 20s to find out what they’re looking for when renting an apartment.Read more


Apartment rents in Tokyo reach record high in 2023

Renewed population growth in Tokyo has resulted in rents in the 23 wards increasing by 8.0% to a record high of 4,152 Yen/sqm in 2023. Average rents are now 30% higher than they were in 2014.

Rising property prices are also causing a growing number of would-be buyers to turn to the rental market instead, adding extra pressure on the demand side. 

All major urban centers surveyed by Tokyo Kantei saw annual rental price growth in 2023, although some have seen growth at a higher pace than others. Tokyo’s 23 wards saw the highest year-on-year increase of 8.0%, followed by Saitama City (+7.6%) and Kobe City (+7.4%). Osaka City saw a 3.9% increase after a 7.7% increase in 2022.

The data provided by Tokyo Kantei is based on the advertised rent of condominium-type apartments recorded in Tokyo Kantei’s database and is limited to family-type apartments (excluding apartments under 30 sqm in size, office and retail space).

Source: Tokyo Kantei, January 17, 2023.


A quick look at Japan’s apartment prices over the past 50 years

The Real Estate Economic Institute published a recent report looking back at Japan’s condominium-type apartment market over the past 50 years. The country has experienced a number of economic cycles over the past five decades, including the 1970s oil crisis, the 1980s asset bubble and subsequent crash in the early 1990s, oversupply of new condos between the mid 1990s and mid 2000s, the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, and, more recently, over a decade of loose monetary policy and low interest rates.Read more


Our Japan Property Market Report for 2023

In 2023, Japan's property market continued to see high demand thanks to some of the lowest interest rates in the world, a cheap Yen, and an improving corporate environment. We ended the year with domestic and foreign clients looking to spend an accumulated total of up to 120 billion Yen on real estate acquisitions in Japan.Read more


Land transactions in Tokyo increase in 2022

Even though 2023 is drawing to a close, some market data takes a long time to be released. On November 16, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government released its report on the local real estate market for land in the 23 wards for 2022.  Let’s look at a summary of the important points below:Read more