Developers to capitalize on aging apartments

Major real estate developers are expanding their apartment re-development business in anticipation of huge demand for reconstruction in the coming years. Both Nomura Real Estate and Tokyo Tatemono are currently converting low-rise old apartment blocks into large-scale developments that are built to the latest earthquake-codes and energy standards.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Prices falling, but apartment transactions increasing

The downward trend of the price of second-hand apartments in Tokyo's 23-ku is increasing in pace. From the end of 2011, the price of brand new apartments have been in decline, which has put additional downwards pressure on the price of older buildings.

However, the fall in prices and historically low interest rates* are having a positive effect on the number of property transactions. (*Out of all private banks, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Resona Bank both currently have the lowest 10-year fixed interest rates on home loans of 1.4%.)

Even buildings over 30 years old (1982 and earlier) are becoming more popular as long-term renters move towards making their first purchase.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Rosenka land values drop for 4th year in a row, but signs of recovery in urban areas

On July 2, the National Tax Agency announced the 2012 Rosenka land valuations. The average land value across 358,000 sites assessed nationwide fell 2.8% from 2011. This is the fourth continuous year of decline, however the rate of decline shrunk 0.3 points from 2011.Read more

by Zoe Ward

June office vacancy rates hit new high

Miki Shoji announced the results from their survey on office vacancy rates for the month of June 2012. In central Tokyo's 5 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya), the average vacancy rate increased by 0.03 points from May to 9.43%. This is the third month of continuous increases. June's vacancy rate is at a record high level, beating the record set in May.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Apartment prices in Saitama up 21.1%

According to AtHome, the average sale price on a secondhand apartment in greater Tokyo was 21,580,000 Yen (273,000 USD) in May 2012. This is a decline of 0.4% from May 2011 and is the second continuous month of decline.

Chiba and Saitama, however, both saw relatively large increases in the average sale price.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Residents move back into 'completely destroyed' building

After a year and four months of waiting, residents of "Neo Heights Kuwano" in Fukushima's Koriyama City have been given the all-clear to move back into their apartments after the building was repaired following serious damage sustained during the Tohoku earthquake last year.

The first four floors of the building suffered damage to their exterior walls and the reinforcing inside the building's columns had broken. This led the city to declare it as 'completely destroyed'. As the majority of the apartment doors were jammed and could not be opened, the residents had to move out.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo's newest and tallest wood-frame mansion

Tokyo's first 5-storey wooden structure - an apartment building - is to be built near Shimouma in Setagaya-ku.

Under a revision to the Building Standards Act in 2000, wooden structures over 4 stories are permissible as long as they meet building strength and fire resistant regulations. Prior to this amendment, a law made during the Taisho period (1926 - 1926) limited wooden structures to 3 stories.

Although the amendment was made 12 years ago, it has not been widely taken up by the construction industry. In Tokyo city, just one 4-storey wooden residence was built in Chiyoda-ku in 2011.Read more

by Zoe Ward