Harajuku has best apartment resale value in 2019
According to an annual report released by Tokyo Kantei on July 2nd, apartments around Harajuku Station had the highest resale value over a 10-year span. The report ranks 515 stations in the greater Tokyo area by the average difference in the resale value of a 10-year old apartment compared to its price when brand new.
Fujitsu plans to halve office space
Fujitsu is planning to reduce its office space by as much as 50% over the next three years as the company prepares for a permanent shift to telecommuting.
Job losses in Niseko putting pressure on rental market
International travel bans and a state of emergency have seen the highly tourist-reliant ski towns in Niseko and surrounding towns suffer from a steep fall in employment and a sharp uptick in vacant apartments.
Showroom closures see new apartment supply hit 47-year low
The supply of brand new apartments released for sale across greater Tokyo in June dropped 31.7% from last year to 1,543 units. This is the 10th month in a row to see a year-on-year drop, although it is a four-fold increase from the units supplied in May.
Quick real estate news summary for the week
Hotel bankruptcies on the rise, office conversions to become a trend, and a planned hike in fire insurance premiums for homeowners. Below is a quick weekly summary of some of the recent goings-on in the Japanese real estate market.
Tokyo apartment discounts in June
The real estate industry kicked back into gear in June as both businesses and individuals began to pick up activity after the end of the state of emergency. Transactions of existing apartments, while not back to last year’s numbers, have improved significantly in June, following two months of drastic falls. In Tokyo’s Minato ward, transactions are only 2.4% below the number reported in June 2019. What about discounts? Is it a negotiation frenzy?
83-yr old bathhouse in Osaka closes its doors
A historic and elaborately designed bathhouse in Osaka’s Ikuno Ward has closed its doors for good, ending 80+ years of operations. Gengabashi Onsen is thought to have been built in 1937 by a local landowner.