Mgmt association seeks to ban owner from using apartment as sharehouse

The management association of an apartment building in Azabu Juban have filed a request with the Tokyo District Court to ban a real estate company from operating an 8-room share house out of one of the apartments.

The association believes that the share house configuration violates the condominium ownership law and building standards act.Read more


TEPCO sells Ginza building for 23.4 billion Yen

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) have sold a building and land in Ginza 3 Chome to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper company for 23.455 billion Yen (240 million USD).Read more


1420-unit apartment building for Kachidoki

Construction of a 53-storey high-rise condominium in Kachidoki will officially begin on September 1st. The residential tower will contain 1,420 apartments, making it the second largest apartment building in Japan (based on the total number of apartments in one building).

The Kachidoki 5 Chome Redevelopment project (which has since been named 'Kachidoki The Tower' includes a 179 meter tall Y-shaped residential tower, along with two low-rise buildings. The lower floors will contain local government facilities and retail space. The building is scheduled to be completed in early 2016. The total project cost is 66.4 billion Yen (approximately 680 million USD).Read more


Tokyo apartment resale values

According to Tokyo Kantei senior researcher Toshiro Nakayama, approximately 90% of an apartment's resale value will be determined by its location.

While there are many finer details of what makes a good location, the most important is how close it is to central Tokyo.

Tokyo Kantei have ranked the resale value of apartments in different areas across Tokyo. The area which is most likely to preserve or even increase the value of an apartment in Minato-ku, which is the highest ranked area for resale values in Tokyo.Read more


60-storey apartment building for Nishi-Shinjuku

A new high-rise apartment building is planned for Nishi Shinjuku. At 60-storeys, it will be the tallest apartment building in Japan (based on the number of floors). Construction work is set to begin in January 2014, with completion scheduled for 2017.

The Nishi Shinjuku 5 Chome Centre North District redevelopment site was originally a densely crowded neighbourhood of wooden houses. The area posed a fire and safety hazard and many of the older homes were not earthquake resistant. Of the 92 low-rise buildings to be demolished, 83 (92%) were not fireproof.

Local residents, wanting to redevelop their neighbourhood, banded together in 1997 to form a redevelopment association to hasten the development of the area.Read more


Secondhand apartment prices in July - Tokyo Kantei

According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70 sqm (753 sqft) secondhand apartment in Tokyo's 23-ku was 39,850,000 Yen in July - up 0.3% from last month and up 1.6% from July 2012. The average apartment age was 20.7 years.

In Tokyo's central 6 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, Bunkyo and Shibuya), the average price in July was 53,280,000 Yen, down 0.3% from last month but 3.4% higher than last year. The average apartment age was 20.9 years.Read more


July rental data - Tokyo Kantei

According to Tokyo Kantei, the average monthly rent of an apartment in greater Tokyo in July was 2,533 Yen/sqm, down 0.3% from last month but up 2.6% from July 2012. The average apartment size was 59.37 sqm (639 sqft) and the average age was 18.6 years.

The average rent in Tokyo's 23-ku dropped 0.1% from last month to 3,097 Yen/sqm, but is still 3.4% higher than last year. The average apartment size was 55.98 sqm (602 sqft) and the average age was 17.1 years.Read more