Shinjuku Golden-Gai foreclosure attracts 100 bidders
A public foreclosure auction of a tiny piece of Shinjuku’s famous Golden-Gai bar district attracted 100 bidders last month and ended up selling for over 100 times its reserve.Read more
Gap between studio and larger apartment rental market widens
There is a growing divide in the rental market between the small studio-type and larger family-type apartments in Japan’s major centers. Based on the latest data for the month of March, the gap is widening with larger rental apartments seeing double-digit y-o-y growth in some cities. But is this rental growth reflecting an actual increase in tenant budgets or are landlords just hiking up advertised rents? Let's take a look.Read more
Japan’s shrinking hotel sizes
Hotel construction may have resumed to a normal pace post-pandemic, but the average floor size per building is shrinking rapidly. Nationwide, the average GFA of a hotel built in 2023 was 72% smaller than the recent high seen in 2018.Read more
Inbound tourism recovery bolsters hotel occupancy and room rates
With Japan's inbound tourism market now starting to exceed pre-pandemic levels, conditions are looking positive for hotel operators. A recent survey by Tokyo Shoko Research (TSR) found that 80% of the hotels were reporting occupancy rates of 80% and higher. Room rates, too, are now seeing pricing higher than 2019 levels.Read more
Railway company embarks on first student accommodation project
With the coming relocation of a university campus and expectations of a rise in tenant demand, one railway company in west Japan has embarked on its first student housing project. The student rental building will be a 4-minute walk to the new campus and a 9-minute walk to Takamatsu Station.Read more
Business confidence returns to hotel operators as travel spending exceeds pre-pandemic level
Domestic travel spending by Japanese travellers saw a 14.8% increase in 2023 compared to the pre-pandemic level in 2019. According to the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA), travellers spent an average of 63,212 Yen per person.Read more
Japan now has 9 million empty homes, but not all are ‘akiya’
Japan has 9 million empty homes, according to the latest House and Land Statistical Survey published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on April 30. But… this number includes temporarily vacant properties and holiday homes, making the true ‘akiya’ or vacant house number closer to 3.85 million, or 5.9% of total housing stock.Read more