Buying with resale value in mind

There are a lot of factors that can help determine the future resale value of an apartment. Two apartments bought at the same time 10 years ago can have very different resale values today.

For example, one apartment was purchased for 50 million Yen and now has a resale value of 51.5 million Yen (3% gain). The 70 sqm 3-bedroom apartment is a 3 minute walk from a station on the Yamanote Loop Line and was purchased from the developer. It is a south-west corner unit on the 10th floor with good light.

The second apartment was purchased at the same time for 45 million Yen and now has a resale value of 35 million Yen (22% loss). It is a 79 sqm 3-bedroom apartment and is 12 minutes from the same station as the apartment above. It is on the 3rd floor but faces east so it loses the natural light in the afternoon. It was also purchased new from the developer.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Second-hand apartment prices in central Tokyo up 12.9% from last year

According to REINS, the average price per square meter of a secondhand apartment sold in Tokyo City in October was 537,200 Yen, up 10.4% from last year and up 1.7% from the previous month. The average sale price was 32,420,000 Yen, up 6.3% from last year and up 1.4% from last month.

A total of 3,066 secondhand apartments were sold across greater Tokyo, up 11.7% from last year. 1,447 apartments were sold in Tokyo City, up 13.1% from last year.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Residential yields and vacancy rates in Minato-ku - November 2013

According to real estate listing site Homes, the average yield on an apartment in Minato-ku in November was 5.8%, unchanged from the previous month. The average yield across Tokyo was 7.6%, down 0.1 points from October.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Office vacancy rates in October

According to Miki Shoji's Office Report, the vacancy rate in Tokyo's 5 central business districts (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya) was 7.56% in October, down 0.34 points from the previous month and down 1.18 points from last year.

This is the lowest level seen in over 4 years. Read more

by Zoe Ward

Minato and Shibuya apartment sales (first half 2013)

According the MLIT, the average transaction price of an apartment (including both new and old) in the first half of 2013 was 55,143,800 Yen (919,600 Yen/sqm) in Minato-ku and 35,182,100 Yen (814,200 Yen/sqm) in Shibuya-ku.Read more

by Zoe Ward

[Foreclosed] Apartment in Park Mansion Roppongi

Park Mansion Roppongi 2

*Update: The property was withdrawn from the auction. This can occur when the creditor/s are either paid the outstanding debt or reach an agreement with the borrower. It was later listed for sale for 248,000,000 Yen.

A 3-bedroom apartment in the luxury Park Mansion Roppongi building is up for public auction this month.

Bidding on the 114 sqm (1227 sqft) apartment starts from 81,600,000 Yen (715,800 Yen/sqm). Apartments in this building are normally priced around 1.9 ~ 2.5 million Yen per square meter, with those overlooking Hinokicho Park going for as much as 3 million Yen/sqm. Read more

by Zoe Ward

Mizuho's Real Estate Market Report

Mizuho Trust & Banking Co. released their Real Estate Market Report for October 2013. According to the data, second-hand apartment sales are making up a growing proportion of total apartment sales in both greater Tokyo and the Kinki region.

In Tokyo's 23 wards, around 10,000 second-hand apartments have been sold annually since 2010. The highest proportion of sales and the highest transaction volume is in Tokyo's central six wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Bunkyo).Read more

by Zoe Ward