Asking price of an apartment in Tokyo hits highest level since 2002
Bad news for buyers who decided to sit on the sidelines throughout 2020. According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70-sqm secondhand apartment across greater Tokyo was 40,440,000 Yen in May, up 0.6% from the previous month and up 10.1% from last year. This is the highest level seen since record-keeping began in 2002.
Former Mizuno HQ (c1927) to be demolished
On May 18, sporting company Mizuno Corporation announced plans to demolish their 94-year old former headquarters building in Osaka.
Osaka’s leaning apartment buildings ignored for 8 years
On April 27, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported on two neighboring apartment buildings in Osaka that are leaning to the point where they are now touching. One of the buildings was deemed at risk of collapse over 8 years ago, yet the building owner has taken no action. Several tenants continue to live in the buildings.
Osaka’s One Dojima Project to include Four Seasons Hotel
Tokyo Tatemono and Hotel Properties Limited are developing a 195-meter tall, 49-story mixed condominium and hotel high-rise just south of the Osaka / Umeda Station district. This will be the first high-rise development in Japan to have both the Four Seasons Hotel and a condominium in the same building.
Land values drop for first time in 6 years
The nationwide ‘koji-chika’ (or chika-koji) land valuations for January 1, 2021 have just been announced. Read on if you want to see how the coronavirus pandemic has affected Japan’s real estate market.
Osaka Metro loses millions on minpaku mansion
Osaka Metro Co., Ltd., the operator of Osaka’s metro transit system, has reportedly sold a ‘minpaku’-style short-term letting building at a loss. The apartment building was purchased in 2019 with the goal of opening it to foreign tourists from February 2021, but those plans have been abandoned due to the ongoing international travel bans.
More locations see land prices rise in Q4
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism’s (MLIT) LOOK Report for the fourth quarter of 2020, a total of 15 locations recorded an increase in land prices, up from just 1 location in the previous quarter.