Former Kobe Sumitomo Building to be demolished

Former Kobe Sumitomo Building 1

The former Kobe Sumitomo Building in Kobe is going to be demolished this month.

Built in 1934, the 3-storey building was originally the Kobe branch of the Sumitomo Bank. It was a landmark in the former foreign settlement area around Motomachi.Read more


Residential yields and vacancy rates in Minato-ku - April 2014

According to real estate listing site Homes, the average gross yield on an apartment in Minato-ku in April was 5.4%, down 0.1 points from March. The average gross yield across Tokyo was 7.2%, down 0.1 points.

The vacancy rate remains unchanged at 9.9% across Minato-ku and 11.0% across Tokyo.

The average asking price of a secondhand apartment in Minato-ku was 781,143 Yen/sqm as of April 1, up 0.1% from the previous month. The average asking price for land was 1,113,333 Yen/sqm, up 4.6%.Read more


Developers struggling with rising construction costs

Apartment developers are facing an impending crisis as construction costs continue to rise.

The average cost per apartment has risen almost 20% to 23 million Yen in the past year. Average construction costs per square meter are now around 300,000 Yen.

To make things worse, land prices are now starting to increase. Read more


Growing market for secondhand apartments, but concerns linger

New secondhand apartment sales Tokyo 2003 2013

Despite the preference that Japanese have for all things new, secondhand apartments are growing in popularity and more and more developers are getting involved in renovations and apartment flipping.

According to REINS, 36,432 secondhand apartments were sold in greater Tokyo in 2013, up 16% from the previous year. Over the same period, 44,886 new apartments were sold, up 29% from 2012.

There are three main reasons for the recent growth in the secondhand apartment market: Read more


Major banks to raise interest rates this month

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG) and other major Japanese banks will be raising the prime rate on their 10-year fixed-rate home loans this month. Read more


The Tower Yokosuka Chuo 60% sold

The Tower Yokosuka Chuo 2

All 150 apartments offered in the first round of sales in The Tower Yokosuka Chuo condominium sold out in early March. An average of 1.3 applications were made on each apartment, with the most popular apartment receiving 4 applications.Read more


Fault discovered in Kawasaki apartment building

Park Tower Shinkawasaki 3In what looks to be a disturbing trend, another apartment building under construction has been found to have a serious defect. It was announced on March 31 that a high-rise condominium in Kawasaki City would be partially demolished and rebuilt after cracks were found on concrete pillars on the fourth floor.

Construction had reached the 7th floor when it was discovered that the extra load of the floors was putting too much strain on the 4th floor structural columns causing them to crack and split.  Read more