Tokyo's second-hand apartment prices down 4.2% from 1 year earlier

The Real Estate Information Network for East Japan (REINS) announced the results of their data collection on real estate movements for the Tokyo area for the month of June, 2011. The data is based on property listings registered on the REINS multiple listing database.

The total number of units listed for sale in the greater Tokyo area on the secondary market surpassed 40,000 units. The total of 40,016 units was an increase of 2.6% from May, and a very large increase of 31.3% compared with June, 2010. Tokyo had a total of 22,950 units, Saitama had 4004 units, Chiba had 3451 units and Kanagawa had 9611 units listed with the REINS database.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Miyashita-cho Apartment site redevelopment tenders open to public

miyashita-cho-apartment-site

Tokyo City announced plans to redevelop 3 sites with a total size of 2.6 hectares just minutes from Shibuya Station. The 3 city-owned blocks of land include the 0.5 hectare site of the former Miyashita-cho Apartment block (Shibuya 1-23), a former school hall site of 0.4 hectares next to Mitake Park (Shibuya 1-18) and the 1.7 hectare site of the former Aoyama Hospital behind the UN University Bldg (Jingumae 5-53). Tenders will be open to the public from Summer, 2011.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Property values rising in Tsunami affected areas

Real estate transaction prices on properties in North Japan's tsunami affected coastline have seen recent increases since the March 11 earthquake. The buyers include residents who have lost their homes as well as property developers anticipating future redevelopment.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo residents buying up vacation homes in resort areas to escape summer heat and power shortages

yatsugatake-nanroku-vacation-homeTokyo residents are flocking to Yatsugatake Nanroku near Kiyosato Station in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture to purchase vacation homes. Due to the predicted power shortages caused by the nuclear power crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, the Kiyosato area with its cooler summers and relative distance from the Fukushima plant is seeing a revival.

Real estate company, Allcare, who develops holiday homes in the Yatsugatake Nanroku area, has started construction on 12 new homes in the past 2 months. They would normally only build 10~12 homes per year, so they are looking at a big increase in sales for 2011.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Fukushima's real estate market not expected to recover for at least 3 years

Fukushima Prefecture's Real Estate Appraisal Association announced the results of their survey on the real estate market for Fukushima following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Real estate transactions by listed companies fall 40% in April-June

  • Pre-quake transactions for 1st qtr of 2011 were 788.3 billion Yen
  • Post-quake transactions for 2nd qtr of 2011 fall to 246.4 billion Yen
  • Companies expecting fall in earnings and profits
  • Reduced supply of properties
  • Power shortages mean no recovery expected until at least September, 2011

The total value of real estate transactions made by publicly listed companies between April and June, 2011, fell 40% to 246.4 billion Yen. This is the lowest level for this quater since 2003. Following the March 11 Tohoku Disaster, many sales were postponed and the property market quickly descended into chaos. With the supply of properties also falling, the market is expected to take a while before bottoming out.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Does your apartment building have earthquake insurance?

*If you own an apartment in Japan, you can take out optional earthquake insurance. This insurance only covers your apartment and does not cover the common areas of the building or the structure itself. The management association for the building can take out earthquake insurance on the common areas, but as it turns out, less than a third of all buildings are covered.

Owners of apartments in uninsured buildings are facing great repair bills as a result of the March 11 Tohoku Earthquake.Read more

by Zoe Ward