Chongryon headquarters back on the auction block
The Chongryon headquarters and North Korean de facto embassy building in Tokyo will be put up for public auction for a second time in early October.
The building and land was first listed for auction in March 2013. It made headlines after the winning bidder - the chief priest of a Kagoshima-based buddhist temple - failed to come up with the money for his 4.5 billion Yen bid.Read more
Tokyo may soon see a shortage of new apartments
In July, the number of unsold new apartments across greater Tokyo fell to 4,247 units - the lowest level seen since 1990.
In the first half of the 2000s, land prices started to rise as a surge in activity by real estate funds started an investment boom. In addition, strong demand for steel from emerging economies pushed up construction costs in Japan. As a result, developers repeatedly pushed up apartment prices. The sudden drop in demand from buyers when the global financial crisis hit in 2008 left a growing inventory of unsold apartments.Read more
Nihonbashi office conversion provides solution to vacancy woes
Renovation company Haptic Co. collaborated with interior design and furnishing company Idee to convert a 24-year old office building in Nihonbashi into residential apartments.
The 7-storey Nihonbashi M&K Building was built in 1989. The owners of the ageing building were having difficulty attracting commercial tenants. Converting the building to residential use was less than a third of the estimated cost of rebuilding. Read more
New apartment prices in July
According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, a total of 5,306 brand new apartments were released for sale across greater Tokyo in July, up 31.6% from last year and up 8.6% from last month. The contract rate was 81.6%, up 8.4 points from last year. The contract rate in buildings over 20 storeys was 90.8%.
The average new apartment price was 51,280,000 Yen (528,000 USD), up 6.1% from last month and up 9.9% from July 2012. The average price per square meter was 727,000 Yen, up 6.0% from last month and up 12.2% from last year.Read more
Mitsubishi's latest offering set to be Japan's most expensive apartments
Mitsubishi Jisho Residence announced that they will begin sales of apartments in The Parkhouse Grand Chidorigafuchi in early September.
With an average price of 2.4 million Yen/sqm, apartments in The Parkhouse will be the most expensive apartments to be released for sale across Japan since 2008. According to Mitusbishi Jisho's president, the pricing reflects the premium location of the building and was decided prior to the recent spate of good news about Tokyo's property market.