College to buy Daikanyama land for 7 billion Yen
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Meguro Ward are moving ahead with plans to sell a vacant 8,000 sqm site in Daikanyama to the Tokyo College of Music. The sale price has been estimated at approximately 7.77 billion Yen (63 million USD), or around 970,000 Yen/sqm.Read more
New life for old homes in Onomichi
On the hillside leading up to Senko-ji Temple in Onomichi City, Hiroshima, sits an old wooden house built between 1921 ~ 1923. Despite being registered as a national tangible cultural property in 2013, the historic home had been left empty to rot on the hillside for decades.
Luckily, a local non-profit organisation has stepped in to restore the old property and convert it into a guesthouse. Repairs will start this month, with completion expected by February 2016.
Nagoya says arrivederci to Italian Village
On June 2, the Nagoya Port Authority announced plans to remove the last remaining structures from the former Italian Village. Demolition is expected to cost 330 million.
The Italian Village shopping mall opened in Nagoya’s port side area in 2005, the same year that Turin was announced as one of Nagoya’s sister cities. The 31,000 sqm site included a reproduction of a Venice canal complete with authentic gondolas imported from Italy, a replica of the San Marco Square, a replica of the Statue of David, and a replica of the Bocca della Verita. Many of the 80 specialty stores featured Italian goods and groceries.
The mall was developed under a private finance initiative between the Nagoya Port Authority and Cest la vie Holdings Corporation. In its first year of operations, it had over 4.2 million visitors. By 2008, this number had halved and the operators filed for bankruptcy.Read more
Secondhand apartment prices in May 2015 - Tokyo Kantei
According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70 sqm (753 sq ft) apartment in greater Tokyo in May was 29,980,000 Yen, up 1.0% from the previous month and up 5.5% from last year. This is the 9th month in a row to see an increase from the previous month. The average building age was 22.0 years.
The increasing cost of buying a brand new apartment is causing buyers to shift their attention to the resale market. With the average price of a new apartment over 10 times the average annual income, and far exceeding the normal multiple of 6, more and more buyers are becoming priced out of the new apartment market.Read more
Otemachi 2 Chome Project expected to sell for 200 billion Yen
The Japanese government is redeveloping a state-owned site in the Otemachi district near Tokyo Station.
The Urban Renaissance Agency, a semipublic housing company, will build a two office towers which will then be sold to a real estate company or fund once it has been filled with tenants. The sale price is expected to be over 200 billion Yen (1.62 billion USD), which, if achieved, would make it the highest price ever seen for government property.
To date, the most expensive recorded sale of state-owned land was for the former Japan Defense Agency land in Roppongi (now Tokyo Midtown). The land sold to a consortium of real estate developers in 2000 for 180 billion Yen.Read more
New apartment supply and prices down in May
2,486 apartments were sold, making the contract rate 71.1%. This is a decline of 4.4 points from the previous month and 7.8 points from last year.
The average new apartment price was 48,120,000 Yen, down 9.3% from the previous month and down 6.7% from last year. The average price per square meter was 679,000 Yen, down 10.4% from the previous month and down 6.0% from last year.Read more
Instant sell-out in The Parkhouse Gran Minamiaoyama
The latest and most luxurious condominium development under construction in Omotesando saw a same-day sellout over the weekend.
Apartments in The Parkhouse Gran Minamiaoyama were priced from 150 ~ 770 million Yen, with an average price of 2,300,000 Yen/sqm. To date this has been the most expensive condominium offered for sale in central Tokyo this year.
Despite the high price tag, a total of 193 purchase applications were made on the 20 apartments offered for sale, with an average of 9.6 applications per apartment. The most popular apartment received as many as 63 applications. Read more