New apartment prices in Tokyo up 26%

According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, 2,651 new apartments were released for sale across greater Tokyo in February, down 24.1% from last year but up 45.2% from the previous month. Record snowfall across Tokyo in February caused some developers to postpone sales until March, which caused the drop in numbers.

Demand still remains strong with a contract rate of 80.6%, up 4.2 points from last year and up 2.0 points from January. Read more

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo bayside apartment bubble to burst after Olympics?

Tokyo Bay IslandsThere are currently 149 large-scale apartment buildings (those with a total floor space of over 10,000 sqm) planned in Tokyo's 23 wards. Of those, several projects located in the bayside area are of a major scale with a floor space of over 100,000 sqm.

What impact could this future supply have on the apartment market on these manmade islands in Tokyo Bay?Read more

by Zoe Ward

Chika-koji land prices in major cities up for first time in 6 years - MLIT

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) announced the 2014 'chika-koji' assessed land values on March 18. According to the latest data, both commercial and residential land prices rose in Japan's three major cities for the first time in six years.

In Greater Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, residential land prices were up 0.5% and commercial land prices were up 1.6% over the 12 months to January 1, 2014.

In central Tokyo, residential land prices were up 5.9% in Minato-ku, 8.7% in Chuo-ku and 6.0% in Chiyoda-ku after negligible changes in 2013. In fact, residential and commercial land prices increased in each of Tokyo's 23 special wards.

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by Zoe Ward

Nara Dreamland foreclosed

Nara Dreamland 1

Before Tokyo Disneyland there was Nara Dreamland - a Disney-themed park in Nara Prefecture that closed in 2006 and has since become a popular spot for urban explorers. Due to unpaid property taxes, Nara City is planning to put the property up for public auction soon. 

Nara Dreamland was opened in 1961 by Nihon Dream Kanko. After meeting with Walt Disney at California's Disneyland Park,  Nihon Dream's president Kunizo Matsuo expressed a desire to build a similar theme park in West Japan to cater to Japanese. Disney was apparently okay with this idea and sent some experts to Japan to advise on park design. While Nihon Dream claimed to have a franchise agreement in place, Disney later denied any official affiliation as they could not come to an agreement on franchise fees.

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by Zoe Ward

February rental data - Tokyo Kantei

According to Tokyo Kantei, the average monthly rent of a condominium apartment in greater Tokyo in February was 2,563 Yen/sqm, down 0.4% from the previous month but up 1.1% from last year. The average apartment size was 59.31 sqm and the average building age was 19.0 years.

The average rent in Tokyo's 23-ku was 3,149 Yen/sqm, up 0.1% from the previous month and up 2.6% from last year. The average apartment size was 56.23 sqm and the average building age was 17.5 years.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Final chapter for Tokyo's Chongryon HQ

Chongryon HQ TokyoRather than hold a third auction, the Tokyo District Court announced plans to sell the foreclosed Chongryon headquarters in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo to a real estate company from Takamatsu City in Kagawa Prefecture. If there are no problems with Marunaka Holdings' paperwork, the final decision regarding the sale will be made on March 24.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Secondhand apartment sales in February - REINS

According to REINS, 3,311 second-hand apartments were sold across greater Tokyo in February, up 23.2% from January but down 0.2% from February 2013. This is the first time in 18 months where the number of apartment sales have been lower than they were 12 months prior.

The Tokyo Metropolitan area was the only area to record an increase in year-on-year sales, while Kanagawa Prefecture recorded a 6.6% drop in sales figures.Read more

by Zoe Ward