Government suspends construction of lodging house
Prime Minister Noda has confirmed that the government has suspended the construction of a 10.5 billion Yen (136 million Yen) lodging house for government workers in Asaka City, Saitama Prefecture. The government will pay the contractors 4 billion Yen (52 million USD) as compensation for the halt in construction. Construction began on September 1st, 2011, and was scheduled to be complete by June, 2013. The work is expected to be suspended for the next 5 years before resuming in 2016.
The site was the location of the former US Military Asaka Base. The plans were to build a two 13-storey residential buildings with a total of 850 apartments. The construction company was Obayashi Corporation.Read more
Revival of Karuizawa property market following March 11
Although land prices have been falling year on year in the popular resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, property transactions have increased since the March 11 Tohoku disaster as the power conservation and fear of radiation led people to seek safer and cooler locations outside of Tokyo.Read more
Japanese hotels being sold off due to lack of tourists
The effects of the March 11 Tohoku disaster have had wide-reaching consequences with hotels as far away as Hokkaido being forced to close their doors and sell due to a faltering tourism industry.Read more
Real estate companies seeking compensation from TEPCO
Approximately 2000 real estate agents from Ibaraki Prefecture are seeking compensation from Tepco for loss of revenue caused by the various news reports and rumors surrounding radiation levels from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the neighboring prefecture.
On September 13th, the industry group submitted an official letter demanding restitution to Tepco's Ibaraki Office, in what is believed to be Tepco's first case where a real estate group has demanded compensation.Read more
Prices of large apartments in Tokyo fall in second half of 2011
The Japan Real Estate Institute (JREI) published their "Residential Market Index" report on price movements for apartments in Tokyo's 23 wards for the first half of 2011.Read more
Sendai City planning to ban construction on coastal areas, 2400 homes to be affected
Sendai City announced on September 16th that they plan to prohibit any new construction or additions to existing homes in the coastal areas that are at risk of being inundated in a Tsunami over 2 meters high. The City plans to present the proposed reforms to the Diet by the end of this year.
The City said that a 2-meter or higher tsunami poses a very high risk of washing away homes. As such, approximately 1500 hectares of the city's coastal areas including Miyagino-ku and Wakabayashi-ku has been designated as a disaster risk area. Up to 2,400 homes will be affected by the planned ban on construction or additions, and plans to move residents 1 to 2 kilometers further inland are progressing.Read more
Land prices across Japan continue to fall after the Tohoku disaster
On September 20, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) published the results of the nationwide land price survey (chika-chosa) as of July 1, 2011. Overall, land values fell by 3.4% from the year before with residential land falling by 3.2% and commercial land values falling by 4.0% over the same period. In 2010, residential land values fell by 3.4% and commercial land fell by 4.6% so the rate of decline has lessened slightly.Read more