REIT disposes of office buildings in Osaka and Tokyo
KDX Realty Investment Corporation sold two office buildings in Osaka and Tokyo this month, one of which sold for 14% less than its book value. The buyers were domestic corporations.Read more
44-yr old Osaka office building sells for over 30 billion Yen
Kanden Realty & Development, a subsidiary of the Kansai Electric Power Company, has paid over 30 billion Yen (US$208 million) for the former headquarters of textile manufacturer Toyobo.Read more
Yokohama and Osaka see rapid rises in rents
While rent prices seem to be tapering off in Tokyo this year, two other Japanese cities have seen staggering rises over the past four months.Read more
Gap between studio and larger apartment rental market widens
There is a growing divide in the rental market between the small studio-type and larger family-type apartments in Japan’s major centers. Based on the latest data for the month of March, the gap is widening with larger rental apartments seeing double-digit y-o-y growth in some cities. But is this rental growth reflecting an actual increase in tenant budgets or are landlords just hiking up advertised rents? Let's take a look.Read more
Osaka's most expensive apartment sold during first round of sales
Osaka’s most expensive apartment building went on sale on February 19, with 2,523 applications made on the 146 apartments offered for sale in the lottery. That included a 2.5 billion Yen penthouse on the 46th floor that received several applications. An average of 17 applications were made per apartment, with the most popular apartment receiving 95 applications.Read more
Apartment rents in Tokyo reach record high in 2023
Renewed population growth in Tokyo has resulted in rents in the 23 wards increasing by 8.0% to a record high of 4,152 Yen/sqm in 2023. Average rents are now 30% higher than they were in 2014.
Rising property prices are also causing a growing number of would-be buyers to turn to the rental market instead, adding extra pressure on the demand side.
All major urban centers surveyed by Tokyo Kantei saw annual rental price growth in 2023, although some have seen growth at a higher pace than others. Tokyo’s 23 wards saw the highest year-on-year increase of 8.0%, followed by Saitama City (+7.6%) and Kobe City (+7.4%). Osaka City saw a 3.9% increase after a 7.7% increase in 2022.
The data provided by Tokyo Kantei is based on the advertised rent of condominium-type apartments recorded in Tokyo Kantei’s database and is limited to family-type apartments (excluding apartments under 30 sqm in size, office and retail space).
Source: Tokyo Kantei, January 17, 2023.
A quick look at Japan’s apartment prices over the past 50 years
The Real Estate Economic Institute published a recent report looking back at Japan’s condominium-type apartment market over the past 50 years. The country has experienced a number of economic cycles over the past five decades, including the 1970s oil crisis, the 1980s asset bubble and subsequent crash in the early 1990s, oversupply of new condos between the mid 1990s and mid 2000s, the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, and, more recently, over a decade of loose monetary policy and low interest rates.Read more