Chuo-ku facing challenging road to Olympics

The bayside area in Chuo-ku, Tokyo, including Kachidoki and Harumi, is seeing a surge in development and high demand from buyers following the Olympic announcement several months ago. But there are concerns that the current infrastructure may not cope with the rising population, which is expected to grow by 30% in coming years.

Large supply of apartments in the pipeline

Developers are now racing ahead to build new condominiums in bayside sites that had previously laid dormant for several decades.Read more

by Zoe Ward

NHK to Redevelop Shibuya Broadcasting Centre

NHK Broadcasting Centre Shibuya 2

Television broadcaster NHK announced plans to redevelop their broadcasting centre in Shibuya. The project is expected to cost approximately 300 billion Yen and will be completed by 2025 (although the president of NHK expressed a desire to have it completed by the 2020 Olympics).Read more

by Zoe Ward

Secondhand apartment prices in December (and 2013 average) - Tokyo Kantei

According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70 sqm (753 sqft) second-hand apartment in greater Tokyo in 2013 was 27,910,000 Yen, down 2.5% from the previous year. The average apartment age was 20.2 years. For the month of December, the average price was 28,310,000 Yen, up 0.3% from the previous month and up 0.4% from December 2012.

The average price in Tokyo's 23 wards in 2013 was 39,950,000 Yen, up 0.5% from 2012. The average building age was 20.5 years. For the month of December, the average asking price was 40,660,000 Yen, up 0.1% from the previous month and 2.3% higher than December 2012.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Mongolian company's bid on Chongryon HQ rejected

Chongryon HQ TokyoOn January 23, the Tokyo District Court announced that they have decided against the sale of the foreclosed North Korean defector embassy building and land in Chiyoda-ku to a mysterious Mongolian company after documents submitted by the buyer were found to be colour copies and could not be authenticated as official documents issued by the Mongolian government.

In October 2013, 'Avar LLC' was the winning bidder on the property after putting in the highest bid of 5.1 billion Yen. Suspicions were immediately raised after it was discovered that Avar was created in January with a capital investment of just 60,000 Yen and was registered to an apartment in Ulaanbaatar (the occupant of the apartment had no knowledge of the company).Read more

by Zoe Ward

Toshima-ku to extend tax on studio apartments

Toshima-ku in Tokyo announced that they will extend the special tax on builders of studio or 'one-room' apartments for another five years.

The tax applies to buildings with 9 or more apartments that are less than 30 sqm (323 sqft) in size. A construction company must pay a tax of 500,000 Yen on each studio apartment within two months of the commencement of construction.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Procter & Gamble Japan to sell Rokko Island HQ

P&G Japan Rokko Island BuildingProcter & Gamble Japan announced on January 8 that they will be selling their head office building in Rokko Island, Kobe, for an undisclosed sum. The buyer is Kobe-based trading and consulting firm Kengoo Group. 

The 30-storey building was completed in 1993. It has a total floor area of 43,500 sqm and is on a 7100 sqm block of land.

P&G will continue renting the building from the new owner before relocating to a new office in Sannomiya in early 2016.

Source: The Kobe Shimbun, January 8, 2014.

by Zoe Ward

Second-hand apartment sales in December - REINS

According to REINS, 2,900 second-hand apartments were sold across greater Tokyo in December 2013, up 22.7% from the previous year, but down 7.1% from the previous month. The average sale price was 25,600,000 Yen, up 2.5% from the previous year but down 3.7% from November. The average price per square meter was 404,800 Yen, up 5.6% from last year but down 1.8% from November.

There were also more sales at the top end of the market. In the 4th quarter of 2013, 60 apartments over 100 million Yen were sold in the Tokyo metropolitan area, comprising 1.4% of the total. This is an increase of 131% from the same quarter in 2012. 141 apartments sold for between 70 ~ 100 million Yen, up 56.7% from 2012.

The average price of a second-hand apartment sold in central Tokyo's 3 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato) in December was 44,600,000 Yen, up 3.1% from last year but down 12.3% from the previous month. It is worth noting that the average size of an apartment sold in December was 9% smaller than the previous month.Read more

by Zoe Ward