Cheats and tricks in real estate advertising
Japan has rules that regulate real estate advertising to consumers, but they are self regulated by nine organizations across the country. One of those organizations is the Real Estate Fair Trade Council of greater Tokyo. According to the Council, the number of illegal advertising tricks by real estate companies is increasing online. The most common of these tricks is bait-and-switch and misleading advertisements.Read more
Nationwide land price declines shrink in 2012
On September 20, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) announced the results of the nationwide survey of land prices (chika-chosa). The average residential land price fell 2.5% (compared with a 3.2% fall in 2011), and the average commercial land price fell 3.1% (compared with a 4.0% fall in 2011). The rate of decline was smaller than normal this year, indicating that the market is heading towards a recovery. However, this is the 21st year of continual decreases in residential land prices, and the 5th year of continual decreases in commercial land prices.Read more
Tokyo Office Vacancy Rates for August
According to Miki Shoji, the commercial vacancy rates in Tokyo's central 5 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya) in August dropped 0.13 points from the previous month to 9.17%. The vacancy rate on brand new buildings dropped 3.48 points to 30.16%.
In Shinjuku-ku, the vacancy rate dropped 1.05 points to 10.85%, as large foreign financial corporations began to consolidate their various offices into one space. In Minato-ku, the rate increased by 0.48% to 10.10%. This was partly due to the completion of Ark Hills Sengokuyama Mori Tower. The 47 storey tower has a total floorspace of 43,423 tsubo (143,296 sqm).Read more
Govt urges landowners in Fukushima evacuation zone not to sell
The government is requesting that residents from the evacuation zones near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant refrain from any real estate transactions within the area until evacuation orders are lifted.
The warning is to avoid any potential trouble arising after Tepco pays compensation to landowners and to ensure a smooth reorganization of the zones. The Yomiuri Shimbun gave a slightly different, and perhaps more honest reason for the request, which is to avoid the land being acquired by various yakuza organizations who, seeing an opportunity, may make it more difficult and more expensive for the government and Tepco to negotiate the storage of contaminated waste on such land. This is not an unfounded fear, as local real estate agents have reported receiving inquiries with very similar intentions.Read more