RECENT ACTIVITY
Average residential needs have slightly lessened but the wealthy are purchasing. Closed sales slightly down but average sales prices have gone up.
House makers are aggressively reducing prices making used houses relatively more expensive.
More homeowners are beginning to think “now is the time to sell” resulting in more listing requests.
Investors and wealthy individuals looking to save on taxes (inheritance) looking to purchase prime property remains strong, leading to shortages. Apartment land with potential of rental income gaining popularity.
The weakening of the yen among other factors lead to increase of import, construction and labor costs continues. Construction costs have increased as much as 20 percent, passing along the higher costs to the end user.
NEXT STEPS
Reassess vacant rental properties and reduce listing prices accordingly.
APARTMENT PROPERTIES
Secondhand apartments nationwide selling well seeing price gains.
Relatively low stock levels of new apartments paired with rising apartment prices sees gaining popularity with secondhand apartments in good, convenient locations.
Single and DINKS (Double Income No Kids) residences increase, further increasing popularity with apartments over houses.
The above reasons lead to low stock levels of apartments in major metropolitan areas near convenient train stations.
In suburban areas, lower prices in the 10-15M yen range are selling well with the elderly age group making cash purchases.
In the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, prices are visibly increasing. Within the 23 Wards of Tokyo, prices have increased about 10 percent compared to last year and other areas between 5-10 percent. In the Kansai region, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe’s central regions have also seen increases more or less in the 10 percent zone, strong sales of secondhand apartments.
Real estate companies have stepped up their bidding for apartments to flip, resulting in increased prices to the end user.
As mentioned previously, nationwide new apartment price increases have led to a wider gap between secondhand apartments. However, only Tokyo 23 Wards and Naha City’s demand for secondhand apartments remain high – about 75% of new apartment prices. Other major cities are more or less 50% of new apartment prices, making secondhand apartment prices in Tokyo 23 Wards and Naha City stand out.
New apartment prices vary wildly depending on area, major city centers and high demand locations have become startling high.
source: Koda Masanori Fudosan Shikyo Jyoho
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