New apartment prices in August

The Residence Mita. All 90 apartments initially released for sale sold out on the same day.

According to the latest data from the Real Estate Economic Institute, a total of 4,145 brand new apartments were released for sale across greater Tokyo in August, up 53.3% from last year. This is the supply of apartments in the month of August since 2005.

Of those, 3,378 were sold making the contract ratio 81.5%.

Meanwhile, a total of 2,250 second-hand apartments were also sold in greater Tokyo during the month.

The average price of a new apartment was 47,960,000 Yen, up 0.5% from last year. The average price per square meter was 677,000 Yen, down 2% from last year.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo may soon see a shortage of new apartments

In July, the number of unsold new apartments across greater Tokyo fell to 4,247 units - the lowest level seen since 1990.

In the first half of the 2000s, land prices started to rise as a surge in activity by real estate funds started an investment boom. In addition, strong demand for steel from emerging economies pushed up construction costs in Japan. As a result, developers repeatedly pushed up apartment prices. The sudden drop in demand from buyers when the global financial crisis hit in 2008 left a growing inventory of unsold apartments.Read more

by Zoe Ward

New apartment prices in July

According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, a total of 5,306 brand new apartments were released for sale across greater Tokyo in July, up 31.6% from last year and up 8.6% from last month. The contract rate was 81.6%, up 8.4 points from last year. The contract rate in buildings over 20 storeys was 90.8%.

The average new apartment price was 51,280,000 Yen (528,000 USD), up 6.1% from last month and up 9.9% from July 2012. The average price per square meter was 727,000 Yen, up 6.0% from last month and up 12.2% from last year.Read more

by Zoe Ward

When is the best time to buy a new apartment?

Why you risk paying up to 15% more if you buy off-the-plan

With the price of new apartments in Tokyo's 23 wards up 4% over the past 12 months, and a contract rate of 82%, many buyers may feel pressured to make their purchase sooner rather than later. But should you rush into purchasing a new apartment off-the-plan or is it better to wait until the apartment is completed?Read more

by Zoe Ward

Sumitomo announces new high-rises for Harumi

Sumitomo have announced the name of their high-rise condominium project in Harumi, Chuo-ku. 'Deux Tours Canal & Spa' will be two 51-storey residential towers with 1,450 apartments.

The 1 ~ 4-bedroom apartments will range in size from 44.67 to 123.77 sqm (480 ~ 1331 sqft). Sales are scheduled to begin at the end of November 2013. The buildings will be complete in September 2015, and ready to move-into by March 2016.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Sales in The Parkhouse Hiroo Hanezawa off to a great start

The first round of sales in The Parkhouse Hiroo Hanezawa began at the end of May. All of the 27 apartments made available for purchase in the first round were sold. They ranged in size from 43 to 152 sqm (462 ~ 1635 sqft) and were priced from 46 ~ 275 million Yen. 17 of the apartments were priced over 100 million Yen.

The sales office received 33 purchase applications for the 27 apartments. The most popular apartments were 2-bedroom types priced around 85 million Yen and 3-bedroom types priced around 128 million Yen. Read more

by Zoe Ward

New apartment prices up 7.1% in April

On May 20, the Real Estate Economic Institute's issued their report on new apartment sales in greater Tokyo for the month of April.

4,093 new apartments were released for sale during the month, down 2.8% from April 2012 and down 20.4% from last month. Of those, 1,891 apartments were in Tokyo (46.2%), 995 were in Kanagawa Prefecture (24.3%), 764 were in Saitama Prefecture (18.7%) and 443 were in Chiba Prefecture (10.8%).Read more

by Zoe Ward