Tokyo Apartment Sales in May 2022
The following is a selection of apartments that were reported to have sold in central Tokyo during the month of May 2022:
Real estate investment appetite returns to pre-pandemic levels
Corporations in Japan are now taking a different approach to their real estate investment activities. Immediately following the initial shock of the pandemic there was a sudden move toward selling off key assets in order to prop up business sheets. Now that the pandemic is subsiding and business is returning to usual, corporations are back to seeking efficient real estate assets that provide stable revenue and allow for diversification out of traditional revenue streams.
16% increase in supply of new apartments in April
The supply of brand new apartments released for sale across greater Tokyo in April increased by 16.1% y-o-y to 2,426 units. The increase was largely due to a new round of sales in Harumi Flag, the former Athletes Village on Tokyo Bay.
Central Tokyo apartment resale values have increased by as much as 111%
According to Tokyo Kantei, an apartment in greater Tokyo has seen a 19.8% increase in its resale price over the past 10 years. That’s the average across a wide-spanning region that includes suburban areas in Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa. In central Tokyo, the rate of growth has been much more staggering with some locations seeing prices increase by between 70 ~ 111%.
Tokyo’s office vacancy rate flattens in April
Tokyo’s office vacancy rate increased only slightly by 0.01 points to 6.38% in April as large-scale leases continued to be filled in existing buildings in the city center. Some tenants were relocating to be better located in Tokyo’s business districts. Vacant office space, too, saw little change from the previous month.
New data center planned for Nihonbashi
Real estate giant HULIC is embarking on a redevelopment project that will see an older office building demolished to make way for a new data center in Nihonbashi.
Price-earnings ratios for Tokyo apartments in 2021
With rental growth exceeding the increase in sale prices, the average price-earnings ratio (PER) for a brand-new apartment across greater Tokyo in 2021 was 24.56, down slightly from 2020 (24.69) but up from 2019 (24.36). A high PER means a low rental yield.