Japan's first JW Marriott Hotel to open in Nara
Mori Trust announced that the Marriott International hotel group will open their first JW Marriott luxury branded hotel in Nara City in 2020. The JW Marriott Hotel Nara will be built on vacant land across the street from the Nara City Hall and near the former Heijo Palace - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Mori Trust acquired the 4,000 sqm block from the prefecture and will start construction of the 15,000 sqm (161,400 sq.ft) hotel next year. The 6 ~ 7 storey hotel will have 150 guest rooms, restaurant, bar and pool facilities.Read more
Tokyo apartment transactions increase for 5th consecutive month
According to REINS, 3,539 second-hand apartments were sold across greater Tokyo in February, up 33.3% from the previous month and up 7.5% from last year. This is the 5th month in a row to see a year-on-year increase in transactions.
The average sale price was 30,450,000 Yen, up 2.0% from the previous month and up 4.1% from last year. The average price per square meter was 471,200 Yen, up 0.6% from the previous month and up 4.7% from last year. This is the 38th month in a row to see a year-on-year increase in sale prices. The average building age was 19.71 years.
In the Tokyo metropolitan area, 1,759 second-hand apartments were sold, up 36.1% from the previous month and up 11.9% from last year. The average sale price was 37,160,000 Yen, up 0.1% from the previous month and up 2.1% from last year. The average price per square meter was 618,900 Yen, down 2.3% from the previous month but up 2.1% from last year. The average building age was 18.64 years.Read more
Kyoto City auctions off historic villa
Kyoto City has auctioned off a 3,200 sqm site of city-owned land in Ukyo-ku. The ‘Narutaki-ryo’ was built in 1939 as the residence of Kozo Ohwatari of the Kyoto Dento Electric Power Company. After WWII, the property was acquired by Kyoto City and had been used as a wedding and function facility.
The property includes a large landscaped garden, and a traditional Japanese style main house with a western-style annex, both dating from the 1930s. The city carried out large renovations and repairs to the property over a 10 year period in the 1990s, but the interior and exterior remains largely original.Read more
58-storey residential tower and hotel planned for downtown Yokohama
Mitsui Fudosan Residential, Marubeni and Mori Building have announced plans for a 58-storey hotel and condominium for downtown Yokohama. The 199.95m tall tower will contain approximately 1,200 apartments, with a hotel occupying several of the upper floors. Construction is scheduled to start in October 2016, with completion by January 2020. This will be the largest residential project over 100 meters tall in Yokohama since 2000.Read more
Residential yields in Minato-ku - March 2016
According to real estate listing site Homes, the average gross yield on an apartment in Minato-ku in Tokyo was 4.5% in March, down 0.1 points from the previous month and down 0.5 points from last year. The average yield across Tokyo was 6.2%, showing no change from last month but down 0.4 points from last year.
The average asking price of a second-hand apartment in Minato-ku was 905,771 Yen/sqm, down 0.1% from last month but up 1.7% from last year. The average asking price for land was 1,370,606 Yen/sqm, down 1.1% from last month but up 9.9% from last year.Read more
Tokyo Apartment Sales in February 2016
The following is a selection of apartments that were sold in central Tokyo during the month of February 2016:Read more
Tax Agency to crack down on high-rise apartment sales
The National Tax Agency and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications are considering introducing changes to the tax valuation of apartments in high-rises to counter-act a growing trend of wealthy Japanese buying up apartments on high floors to reduce their inheritance taxes. Changes could be introduced from as early as 2018.
When calculating inheritance taxes, assets such as cash and shares are valued based on their face value, while real estate is valued based on its ‘rosenka’ tax value which can be much lower than the actual market value.
For apartments in a high-rise building, the tax value is currently based on both the size of the apartment and the rosenka value of the small share of land. Tax values do not take into account the floor, views or facilities, so an apartment on the 2nd floor would have the same tax value as an apartment on the top floor, assuming they are the same size. The top floor unit, however, has a market value much higher than the lower floor unit.Read more