Hotel investors seeking bargains in Okinawa
International travel bans and a State of Emergency have savvy investors on the hunt for distressed hotel sales in Okinawa. According to the Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper, desperate hotel and resort owners are finding plenty of demand from corporate investors from the mainland and even overseas.
Okinawa’s military land attracting out-of-state investors
The percentage of land under Japanese and US military bases in Okinawa is increasingly being held by investors from outside the prefecture. As of 2018, 9% of the 44,523 landlords were located outside of Okinawa, a 3 point increase (or around 1.4 times the number of landlords) from 2012.
Okinawa’s housing starts drop for first time in 5 years
Housing starts in Okinawa in 2019 are likely to see the first decline in five years. Total starts between January and November 2019 dropped 9.4% from the same period in 2018 to 13,854 units. The biggest drop was seen in rental housing.