Apartment rents in Tokyo increase for 10th month in a row
The average apartment rent in Tokyo’s 23 wards has increased year-on-year for the 10th month in a row. The average monthly rent in September was 3,504 Yen/sqm, up 6.6% from last year and up 1.2% from the previous month. Both Yokohama and Saitama cities saw a decline in year-on-year rents.
Floor space across Japan increases by 0.2% in 2018
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), the total floor space of buildings across Japan totaled 7.73 billion square meters (approx. 83 billion sq.ft) as at January 1, 2018, a 0.2% increase from last year. Housing stock, including both private and public housing, saw a 0.2% rise and accounted for 74.3% of the total.
Kyoto’s most expensive apartment building is almost sold out
Kyoto City’s most expensive apartment building since 1995 is already close to selling out prior to the start of official sales. 90% of the apartments in The Kyoto Residence Gosho-Higashi have already been pre-sold to buyers, with the remaining 4 units offered in the first round of public sales held on October 13th. The four apartments are priced from 105 to 157 million Yen (approx. 935,000 ~ 1,400,000 USD). With an average price of around 1,600,000 Yen/sqm (approx. 1,325 USD/sq.ft), this is the most expensive apartment building to go on sale in the city since 1995. It has beaten a previous record set in 2015 by The Parkhouse Kyoto Kamogawa Gosho-Higashi which had an average price of between 1,300,000 ~ 1,400,000 Yen/sqm when new.
Greater Tokyo second-hand apartment prices increase for 69th month in a row
According to REINS, 3,244 second-hand apartments were sold across greater Tokyo in September, up 40.9% from the previous month and up 0.7% from last year. The average sale price was 32,920,000 Yen, down 0.8% from the previous month but up 2.0% from last year. The average price per square meter was 513,900 Yen, down 1.4% from the previous month but up 1.4% from last year. This is the 69th month in a row to record a year-on-year increase in prices.
Sales in Shibuya condo to start this month
Domestic sales in The Parkhouse Shibuya Nanpeidai are scheduled to start at the end of this month, with 35 units on offer.Pre-sales to overseas investors in Hong Kong started in 2017. The 10-storey condominium is located a 7 minute walk from Shibuya Station and 300 meters from Cerulean Tower. This is the first new condominium to go on sale in the Nanpeidai address in 11 years.
Tokyo to buy National Children’s Castle
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is in talks to buy the National Children’s Castle building and land in Shibuya from the national government. The once popular arts and entertainment complex closed its doors in 2015, ending 30 years of operations.Read more
Japan’s whole building renovation market doubles this decade
It has often been said that Japanese consumers prefer new construction over old. However, this way of thinking has started to change over the past few years with home buyers turning their attention to the existing home market. In 2016, sales of existing ‘second-hand’ apartments in greater Tokyo exceeded those of brand-new apartments for the first time ever. This has not gone unnoticed by Japan’s major real estate developers, who, once focusing solely on new construction, are now entering the growing renovation market. 15 of the top 20 developers are already active in this market.