Rental apartments in Tokyo see a drop in deposits but a rise in key money
Residential rental listings offering no deposit are on the rise across greater Tokyo, but those offering no key or gift money are becoming less common at certain price points.
Why would landlords be reducing deposits but increasing gift money?
It’s a combination of both market forces and maximizing total rental income for a landlord.Read more
Landlords slashing rents in Harumi Flag
Harumi Flag, the conversion of the Athlete’s Village on Tokyo Bay, is facing an oversupply issue as hundreds of investors and landlords put their units on the market at once. In May 2024, NHK reported that over 500 units had been put up for rent or resale by investors.
Delivery of the units to buyers began in January 2024. By May, almost 330 apartments were advertised for rent.Read more
Two floors in Roppongi Hills sold to small-lot real estate fund
Small-lot real estate fund creator and operator, Financial Partners Group (FPG), has acquired the 18th and 21st floors in Roppongi Hills Mori Tower. This is the largest acquisition by FPG to date, and potentially the largest small-lot investment to go on offer.Read more
Recent reported commercial transactions in Tokyo
Let’s take a look at some recently reported sales on commercial buildings, including multi-family, office and retail. It’s important to keep in mind that reporting transactions is entirely voluntarily and the vast majority or real estate sold in Japan goes un-reported. That means we have a very limited dataset to work with.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
Famous land swindles in Tokyo
Next month, Netflix is coming out with a fictional series based on 'jimenshi' (地面師), or real estate fraudsters, called Tokyo Swindlers. It looks to be based on some recent high-profile fraud cases that have seen some developers lose billions of Yen to scammers pretending to be selling sought-after plots of land. This is a real risk that we all have to be aware of when operating in Japan's real estate market. While the criminals tend to target domestic investors, I have seen some suspicious cases where foreigners may have also been targeted.Read more
Kudan-Minami office building traded for 3rd time in 3 years
A 10-story office building across from Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo’s Chiyoda ward has changed hands for the third time in three years. NTT Urban Development acquired Pacific Square Kudan-Minami from a real estate fund in early 2008. It had been suffering from high vacancy rates at the time due to high supply in the neighborhood and a relatively small floor plate (144 m2).Read more