New housing starts down 2.3% in 2018
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), there were 942,370 new housing starts across Japan in 2018, a 2.3% drop from 2017 and the second year in a row to see a decline.
Regional residential land prices increase for first time since 1992
Something that is on every local investor and real estate agent’s calendar is the announcement of the koji-chika assessed land prices by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). This year’s results came as no surprise to those in the industry, with average land prices increasing for the fourth year in a row. A 1.2% increase nationwide was reported in 2019, a 0.5 point increase from 2018.
Apartment transactions up in February
According to REINS, 3,484 second-hand apartments were reported to have sold across greater Tokyo in February, up 30.6% from January and up 1.8% from last year. The average sale price was 34,730,000 Yen, up 5.4% from the previous month and up 3.6% from last year. The average price per square meter was 531,600 Yen, up 3.3% from the previous month and up 3.8% from last year.
Tokyo Apartment Sales in February 2019
The following is a selection of apartments that were reported to have sold in central Tokyo during the month of February 2019:
New apartment price across Japan reaches record high in 2018
According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, a total of 80,256 brand-new apartments were released for sale across Japan in 2018, up 3.7% from 2017, and the first time since 2014 to see supply exceed 80,000 units. Greater Tokyo saw a 3.4% increase in supply, while the Kinki, Chubu and Tokai regions saw increases of over 7%. Another 80,000 new apartments are expected to be supplied for sale in 2019. This is still below the recent peak of 105,282 units supplied in 2013.
Japan land prices increase in 97% of locations, setting new record
On February 15, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) published their quarterly LOOK Report for land prices in Japan’s major cities in the fourth quarter of 2018.
According to the report, land prices increased in 97 of the 100 surveyed locations. This is the highest share in the history of reporting, beating previous records set in recent quarters. It is also the fourth consecutive quarter to see increases in over 90% of locations.
Greater Tokyo apartment sale prices down in January, ending 72-month streak
According to REINS, 2,667 second-hand apartments were reported to have sold across greater Tokyo in January, down 10.7% from the previous month but up 1.0% from January 2018. The average sale price was 32,940,000 Yen, down 2.5% from the previous month and down 1.9% from last year. The average price per square meter was 514,600 Yen, down 1.8% from the previous month and down 0.3% from last year. This ends a 72-month streak of year-on-year increases in sale prices.