Tokyo Apartment Sales in May 2018
The following is a selection of apartments that were reported to have sold in central Tokyo during the month of May 2018:Read more
Toshiba sells historic residence in Shinagawa
Furniture company Nitori Holdings has acquired a historic residence in Tokyo from Toshiba. The home, which was used by Toshiba as a reception hall for guests, sits on a sprawling 6,400 sqm of grounds in the Nishi-oi address in Shinagawa.
The traditional Japanese house was built in 1941 for Keitaro Miho, the president of Japanese record label Nippon Columbia. It was transferred to Toshiba in 1953. The site was originally part of a larger castle-like estate, with some parts of the original foundation walls said to be remaining within Toshiba’s grounds.Read more
Forecast of new apartment prices in Tokyo from 2018 onwards
The Japan Real Estate Institute (JREI) has issued an updated medium-term forecast for the price of brand new apartments in Tokyo’s 23 wards over the next seven years. Price predictions have been revised updwards from last year’s forecast. In 2018, average new apartment prices are expected to be 994,000 Yen/sqm, up 0.5% from 2017 and 4.4% higher than their previous forecast.Read more
Kyoto City sees 4,500 new hotel rooms added in 2017
Kyoto City saw an additional 4,532 hotel/accommodation rooms added in 2017, putting the city’s total inventory above 38,000 rooms. In the past 12 months over 3,000 rooms have been opened in simple lodgings, which refers to guest houses and low-priced hostels. The growing number of foreign tourists to the former capital has been a driving force behind the new supply.
The city had 38,419 rooms as at the end of 2017, up 13.4% from 2016. Hotels make up the largest share with 23,899 rooms, up 6.5% from the previous year. Traditional ryokans dropped 0.8% to 5,273 rooms, while simple lodgings saw a 50% increase to 9,247 rooms. Kyoto City’s survey only covered licensed accommodation, with unlicensed, illegal rooms not included in the total count.Read more
Tokyo apartment asking prices in April 2018
According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70 sqm (753 sq.ft) second-hand apartment across greater Tokyo was 36,040,000 Yen in April, down 0.4% from the previous month but up 1.2% from last year. The average building age was 23.4 years.Read more
How much should be allocated towards large-scale repairs and maintenance on a condo?
On May 11, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) released the results of a survey into the approximate costs of large-scale maintenance and repairs for apartment buildings. The goal of the survey is to provide apartment owners associations with a general idea of what the repair work should cost in an effort to reduce over-charging.
This is a useful guide for potential apartment buyers as you can check the amount of money in a building’s repair reserve fund before purchasing. Some buildings may have ample funds, providing some peace of mind, while others may have very little accumulated which would mean each apartment owner may have to pay out of pocket in the future or necessary maintenance won’t be carried out at all.Read more
Housing starts in Kyoto drop 13.1% in 2017 as hotel construction overtakes apartments
Housing starts in Kyoto Prefecture saw a year-on-year drop of 13.1% in 2017 to 14,790 units, the second lowest level seen in the past 10 years. This is also the second year in a row to see a decline in new construction.
This has been attributed to a steep rise in the construction of hotels in Kyoto’s city centre, with developers choosing to focus on building hotels rather than apartment buildings. Construction of apartments has halved as a result. The tourism boom and demand for hotels has put pressure on land prices, causing them to reach a level where the land is no longer profitable for an apartment development. Read more