Tokyo apartment sale prices increase for 58th consecutive month
According to REINS, 3,304 second-hand apartments were sold across greater Tokyo in July, down 0.9% from the previous month but up 3.6% from last year. The average sale price was 31,600,000 Yen, down 0.06% from the previous month but up 5.4% from last year. The average price per square meter was 494,800 Yen, down 0.3% from the previous month but up 4.5% from last year. This is the 55th month in a row to record a year-on-year increase in sale prices. The average building age was 20.89 years.
In the Tokyo metropolitan area 1,722 second-hand apartments were sold, down 1.6% from the previous month but up 8.2% from last year. The average sale price was 38,640,000 Yen, showing no change from the previous month but up 3.1% from last year. The average price per square meter was 656,100 Yen, up 0.9% from the previous month and up 3.3% from last year. This is the 58th month in a row to record a year-on-year increase in prices. The average building age was 19.64 years.
Luxury condo to replace Yoyogi Terrace Apartment block
Foretseine, a subsidiary of Mori Trust, will be demolishing the vintage Yoyogi Terrace Apartment rental building in Shibuya and replacing it with a luxury condominium.
Details on the project, including the construction schedule, have yet to be announced, but it is expected that the new building could be completed by 2020 2022.Read more
Sankei Building to enter Kyoto machiya hotel business
On July 27, The Sankei Building Co., a Tokyo-based real estate company, announced that they will be entering the Kyoto machiya hotel business. Their first property is a traditional machiya merchant residence located a kilometer from Nijo Castle that is scheduled to open in April 2018.
100+ year old convent to be converted into luxury hotel
On July 31, Mori Trust announced that they have acquired the historic former Maria-en Catholic nursery school in Nagasaki. Mori will restore the 119-year old building and convert it into an internationally-branded luxury hotel targeting wealthy foreign tourists with an opening scheduled for around 2022. Mori Trust operates 21 hotels across Japan, and this will be their first venture in the Kyushu region. The seller was the Minami Yamate-kai social welfare corporation.
32 million Yen lawsuit filed against illegal Airbnb hosts in Osaka apartment building
The owners association of a condominium in Osaka’s Minami district have filed a lawsuit with the Osaka District Court seeking 32,670,000 Yen (approx. 300,000 USD) in damages from hosts providing illegal overnight accommodation in the building.
According to the association, 5 of the 100 apartments in the 10 year old building have been rented out to overnight guests using online booking sites, contravening the building management bylaws. The association made attempts to have the hosts, who also owned the apartments, stop the activity by imposing fines of 50,000 Yen per day and putting up posters in the building. However, their attempts were ignored.
Tokyo apartment sales in July 2017
The following is a selection of apartments that were sold in central Tokyo during the month of July 2017:Read more
Local groups seek ban on unlicensed short-term letting in Hakuba
Hakuba’s local tourism associations are seeking a ban on short-term Airbnb-type accommodation because it could threaten the already-low operational rates of the village’s existing inns and hotels.
Hakuba’s Kirikubo and Shinden districts at the foot of the Hakuba Iwatake Ski Resort have 68 licensed lodgings that have operating ratios of around 15 ~ 20%, as reported by the Iwatake Tourism Association. The president of the Association says the village already has enough accommodation options for foreign and domestic tourists and believes that the new model of short-term Airbnb-type lettings is something more suited to a large city.