Secondhand apartment prices in October - Tokyo Kantei

According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70 sqm (753 sqft) second-hand apartment in Tokyo's 23 wards was 40,660,000 Yen in October, up 0.6% from the previous month and up 3.3% from last year. This is the seventh month in a row where prices have seen a month-on-month increase.

In Tokyo's central 6 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, Bunkyo and Shibuya), the average asking price was 54,580,000 Yen, up 1.0% from the previous month and up 7.0% from last year. The average apartment age was 21.0 years.

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by Zoe Ward

Osaka may lift ban on rental apartments along Midosuji Avenue

Midosuji Avenue OsakaFrom the next fiscal year onwards, Osaka City will allow the construction of rental apartment buildings alongside Midosuji Avenue.

Currently, only commercial and retail buildings are allowed along the tree-lined street.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Kepco demolishing old head office in Osaka

The Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) announced that they will be demolishing and rebuilding their former head office in Osaka from April 2012. Completion of the new building is scheduled for April, 2014.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Osaka sees first net inflow of new residents since 1973

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications released information on the migration movements within Japan in 2011 using data from the basic resident registers. Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures each saw a net outflow as residents moved out of the disaster-struck areas. The number of residents moving out exceeded the number of residents moving in to these three prefectures by 41,226. This is the first time since 1970 that the number has exceeded 40,000 residents.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Apartment being built directly on top of fault line

In Toyonaka City, Osaka, construction work is continuing on a 14-storey apartment building on a site that is directly above an active fault line.

"Uniheim Senri Momoyamadai" is located in Higashi-izumigaoka 3 Chome and is directly above the Butsunenjiyama Fault - an active fault line that runs from the north of Toyonaka and south to Suita in Osaka. It is an extension to the Uemachi Fault, a relatively active fault line which has a 2~3% chance of producing an earthquake within the next 30 years, and a hypothesized magnitude of 7.2 would result in an estimated death toll of 42,000.Read more

by Zoe Ward