Central Tokyo condo price soars to record high in 1st half of 2023

What a depressing picture!

Surrounded by concrete in a sea of grey…

Most high in Houston have a swimming pool,gym,private parking,a party room,that you can reserve to have a party,24/7 armed security and more

The average unit price of a new condominium in Tokyo's 23 central wards in the first six months of 2023 soared to a record high 129.6 million yen due largely to high material prices and construction costs, a research institute said Thursday.

More corporate cover from Kyodo.

It is mostly about private equity connected developers and the overabundance of "premium" vanity projects.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/26/blackstone-group-accused-global-housing-crisis-un

@yrral and your point is?

This kind of comparrision has no meaning.

On topic, most people are moving to bigger cities for (better) work or for a more comfortable life.

Imagine paying all that money and you don’t even own any land; just a box of air in the sky.

On topic, most people are moving to bigger cities for (better) work or for a more comfortable life.

Depends on what you call comfortable. Then there is the lack of community and lonely existences that these mansions in the sky encourage.

And good luck in Tokyo when the big one inevitably comes. How quickly people forget 311, and that wasn't even a direct hit

Finally, much of Tokyo is sinking.....

No thanks.

Doesn't mention the size or number of bedrooms, if this were a studio apartment I would be concerned, if a 5 bedroom not so much.

This is good news for overseas investors, who are continuing to drive up prices. Not so good for people who actually live in Tokyo.

Gogo,Comfort is not having to leave your home to get money,with an ATM onsite and mini store and restaurant

My house with its own walls cost less, and I get freehold of the land.

@factchecker indeed this is why I bought an house cost less over an long period, own land including parking and enough space to have a relaxing bbq outside with friends. Although it is located in rural area I have mountains and rivers surrounding me.

All those condos in central Tokyo are mental killers

I bought my place here in Shinjuku 20 years ago (it is just a little to the right of the picture). The building was new at the time, and now I could sell it for more than I paid. That would have been unthinkable 20 years ago. Selling an old place for more than when it was new was seen as a rip-off or scam. But not now. And no, I'm never going to sell.

@didou What do you mean. I live just to the right of that picture. Almost everything I need is within a 5 or 6 minute walk. So convenient! And the subway is just around the corner, so I can get anywhere.

Gogo,Comfort is not having to leave your home to get money,with an ATM onsite and mini store and restaurant

Everyone has their own opinion when it comes to what they feel is comfort so I wouldn't really get into an argument there. Some people like living near a train station because it offers them comfort knowing they have easy accessibility, some people like living away from the station because of the comfort of not having all the noise. To each their own.

No thanks! I'll pass on Tokyo. Too stressful for me, while looking at those on the train in the morning that looks like the life sucked out of them. No thanks!

@David - you do own land; if there are N units and they are all the same size, you own 1/N of the building's land area. If they're different sizes and your unit is X square meters and the total land area is Y, you own X/Y of the building's land area. If the building owners vote to demolish the building and sell the land, you would get that proportion of the proceeds.

you do own land

@ThonTaddeo

Oh yeah? Try having a BBQ party on your “land” while living on the 25th floor of some concrete box. The neighbors will rat you out within an hour for causing the dreaded “meiwaku”. Or try using your “land” to put out a paddling pool for your kids.

The scenario you paint would never happen for 99.9% of inhabitants.

This is good news for overseas investors, who are continuing to drive up prices. Not so good for people who actually live in Tokyo.

They people who live in Tokyo own their condos, which means they too are making money.

Just looking at that concrete jungle is so depressing. No thanks.

85 million yen borrowed at 1% is 240,000 a month for 35 years. The idea of paying 88 million yen and still facing packed commuter trains between Chiba and Tokyo does not appeal to me, but 240,000 yen a month will still be affordable compared to rents in such places. Lots of non rich people will be paying that or thereabouts.

Even second hand mansions in central Kanto have been going up, so do not believe people who will tell you that real estate in Japan must go down in value or that only value is in land. This has not been true in hot markets for at least 15 years. You have to judge things based on location.

We all know who are those "investors" buying in Tokyo and Yokohama.

Is funny how the Japanese government allow all it's land to be bought by Chinese with government sponsored funds...

Just thinking that there must be kids and even some adults in Tokyo that have never seen a blade of grass…

@David - I'm not talking about barbecues or doing any other specific thing on building property; I'm talking about legal ownership. Apartment ownership is not just a box-shaped piece of air as is occasionally mistakenly believed; you own your share of the land under the building.

@David - I'm not talking about barbecues or doing any other specific thing on building property; I'm talking about legal ownership. Apartment ownership is not just a box-shaped piece of air as is occasionally mistakenly believed; you own your share of the land under the building.

This is correct, legally owners own a portion of the land the building is on.

Billions of people are happy to own pieces of paper called "banknotes". A much smaller number of people own other valuable pieces of paper called "stocks" and "bonds". Other people own bits of canvas with paintings on, or old cars, or memorabilia of some sort, say a guitar once used by a famous person to play three chords through an overdrive pedal. We refer to people with lots of such things as "rich".

It should not need much imagination to see that an apartment in Tokyo, even if stylized as a "box of air in the sky", can also be in significant value and, as the story describes, going up in value. All that matters is how much other people value it.

Concrete Jungle.

according to the Real Estate Economic Institute.

Oh to be working for a "economic research institute" where your findings are set by whichever industry or government group is paying you well before actual research and conclusions are made.

It is a road to easy street, like buying and selling property when you possess that capital.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/28/luxury-real-estate-housing-crisis-un-homelessness

That is the reality.

They people who live in Tokyo own their condos, which means they too are making money.

If you live in the condo and you are not planning to sell and downsize, then you are not making any money. If you sell and move to a similar property, the value gained will have to be spent again on the new property whose value will also have increased. If you want to buy a bigger place, you will likely have to spend even more than you would have if prices had not gone up, so you would be losing money. The only way you gain any money by increasing property prices is if you bought the place as an investment or if you are using the value of the property as some kind of security in another investment, or if you sell and buy a smaller, cheaper property.

If you live in the condo and you are not planning to sell and downsize, then you are not making any money. If you sell and move to a similar property, the value gained will have to be spent again on the new property whose value will also have increased. If you want to buy a bigger place, you will likely have to spend even more than you would have if prices had not gone up, so you would be losing money. The only way you gain any money by increasing property prices is if you bought the place as an investment or if you are using the value of the property as some kind of security in another investment, or if you sell and buy a smaller, cheaper property.

You are talking money. The value in a home isn't money, it's equity. Do you know the difference?

The only way you gain any money by increasing property prices is if you bought the place as an investment or if you are using the value of the property as some kind of security in another investment, or if you sell and buy a smaller, cheaper property.

Yes, but the average buyer in Tokyo is avoiding rent for the space that they 100% need to stop their family being homeless. They are paying 200,000 or whatever on a low interest mortgage instead of 250,000 or whatever in rent (I'm guessing) for the same quality of accommodation. However bad a deal the purchase may be, renting at this point in time will usually be worse. Any equity left at the end of the mortgage, less than 100% is fine, is more than renting would have given you. Renting leaves you with zero.

To put that another way, my friend just had to put their parents in a home. It's costing them $10,000/month. They sold the parent's home, getting $700,000. That means they can afford about 70 months in the old folks home, not even six years. If they had been renters, they would have had zero equity, and nothing with which to pay the old folks home.

To put that another way, my friend just had to put their parents in a home. It's costing them $10,000/month. They sold the parent's home, getting $700,000. That means they can afford about 70 months in the old folks home, not even six years. If they had been renters, they would have had zero equity, and nothing with which to pay the old folks home.

2 people, in a full service facility, senior home for 10,000 a month. That is beyond reasonable. It's actually cheap! Many cost that much for 1 person alone.

2 people, in a full service facility, senior home for 10,000 a month. That is beyond reasonable. It's actually cheap! Many cost that much for 1 person alone.

Depends on the country.

My house with its own walls cost less, and I get freehold of the land.

same here my semi rural home 440m2 3 floors , 45min from Osaka, enough parking for 5 cars, driving is easy, 4 supermarkets within 5 minutes, parking is easy and free everywhere. have a bore/well , unlimited amount of water for washing baths and our pool, yes we have a pool.

also treated city water for drinking. and it cost me less than a third of a condo in Tokyo .

there comes a point when convenience just isnt worth the price or the lack of lifestyle.

gokai_wo_manekuToday  08:14 am JST

@didou What do you mean. I live just to the right of that picture. Almost everything I need is within a 5 or 6 minute walk. So convenient! And the subway is just around the corner, so I can get anywhere.

If you are happy and feel comfortable in Shinjuku, that’s fine. For sure, it is convenient.

But for me, the concrete jungle is depressing and would kill my mental health.

Lack of greenery, too many people. I feel like within a fortress, always surrounded by walls. But beyond that, it is not only the price but the overpopulation, always having to wait in line, crowded stations, etc…

Work in Tokyo, but I did chose to have a 2 hours commute for a more relaxing atmosphere in Chiba, near the Pacific coast. The only inconvenient is that it makes it more difficult to meet friends based in Tokyo during the weekends.

Having grown in the countryside in my home country had definitively an impact.

Good for them that a lot of people want to live there. I would prefer elsewhere.

Of course, it's the coolest, frikiest and best city of the world..

I missed the bonanza. Still renting the same townhouse at the same rent for 11 years in Tokyo. Feel like Rip Van Winkle.

Luckily not all Japan is like Tokyo. After my retirement my Japanese wife and I hurried to move away from crowded Tokyo 6 years ago and we bought a condominium unit (not new, but in a 5 year old building in excellent condition) in Okayama City. The best decision we ever made.

We paid about 25 percent of the price of a similar condominium in overpriced Tokyo area. We have 70 m2 condo + 30 m2 balcony with roof in the upper floors, corner unit with nice open view to north, west and south. Located next to a river and a forest, there is also a regular bus to the city center/Shinkansen railway station/the very large AEON shopping mall 5km away, half fare for seniors only yen 80,-. Next to our condo unit along the main road there are plenty of shops, restaurants, various medical clinics, car services etc. all within a few minutes of walking distance. Nothing missing, all is available.

We pay about yen 25.000,- maintenance fee per month, which includes also the rent of a parking space in the garage of the building for 2 cars.

This is a very misleading article. It is NOT comparing like with like. The price rise is largely due to a many of the new condos being in the luxury end. The actual increase in land and condo values overall is very small.

When newspapers starts to right articles about soaring prices especially Japan Today it means that it's the best time to sell.

I'm glad I sold everything you can guys keep buying.

You are talking money. The value in a home isn't money, it's equity. Do you know the difference?

To be fair, my response was to somebody saying condo owners are making money.

Of course, if you can buy your own property, its almost certainly going to be better than renting. But as a place that you have to live in, increasing property values don't really make a big difference to you - it will make a difference to your kids who might inherit the place, but then you are already dead, and it might make a difference to you if you have to move to a care home in your old age and pay for it - by which point you might as well be dead! So, celebrating rising property prices because you happen to own the place you live in is more like celebrating everyone who doesn't own a home getting poorer, rather than yourself becoming any richer in any useful sense! Generally, house prices rising to levels that many people cannot afford - I mean, look at the situation in London, for example, where the vast majority of young people will never be able to afford to buy a home - I think it's not a good thing for society as a whole.

Japan tries hard to become the next UK for all dark money from Asian elites. Almost all of these condos are owned by foreigners who are mostly Chinese.

When you keep interest rates at zero this is what happens.

unlimited amount of water for washing baths and our pool, yes we have a pool.

So, when are we all invited? :) It's scorching hot and a pool sounds nice

Renting leaves you with zero.

It leaves you with loads of savings from not having to maintain your house over the decades; and Japanese houses need constant maintenance in this climate due to their crappy construction. Of course, you could do what the locals do, and carry out zero maintenance over three decades, ending up with a horrible-looking hovel.

Depends on the country.

Seeing as how this is about Japan, and Japan only, the amount you stated is downright cheap!

Yohan,in America the fee you pay to maintain the condo building is based on the price of your condo unit,the penthouse owner will pay more than a owner of a studio apartment,but you own your parking spot ,it part of the condo price

Yohan, great move there. Interesting post. Thanks.

Having experienced fully the joys and limitations of living in a city condo, many years ago I moved into a seven-room house on a hill in the woods with parking for several cars. I can make as much noise as I like as the nearest neighbors are down the hill. The rent is only ¥50,000 @ month for everything.

That's pretty much $900k for an apartment, expensive!!

I have given up under the Tokyo Real Estate Market but I’ll take it.

As one of the above posters said, when I bought mine 21 years ago, (paying the then ridiculous price of 43 million for a fairly large 3 bedroom condo) I had no expectations of appreciation. But I could sell at a tidy sum should I choose to do so.

I’m thinking of keeping it until I retire in another 15-18 years and then selling and moving out to the boonies -Kumamoto and Tottori are both prime candidates at the moment - for the quiet and the lower cost of living.

Can half the people on here even read? Well, actually it's not their fault. This article is very badly written to imply there is a huge increase in condo values. The increase is in the price of new condos sold this year. Try to imagine a lot of Toyotas sold in the last few years and this year there was a boom in Rolls Royce sales. The average car sales price has rocketed but your old Toyota hasn't gone up in value.

After many years this is a great sign.

Should not the headline correctly say that the depreciating yen now buys only half a condo as used to be.

Don't these things depreciate to zero? I mean if you kept it for decades and and decades. You own no land.

What’s to understand? I’m broke. Wages are falling. Yen is worthless. My only joy is daily exercise and riding my bicycle if I can afford it.

To be fair, my response was to somebody saying condo owners are making money.

Sorry, I had missed that. And yeah, your post was in line with that.

@David Brent That’s not it’s depreciating value over 30 years then it becomes concrete rubbish.

Imagine paying all that money and you don’t even own any land; just a box of air in the sky.

Can half the people on here even read? Well, actually it's not their fault. This article is very badly written to imply there is a huge increase in condo values. 

Can the other 1/2 understand basic economics of supply and demand?

Real Estate prices on the primary and secondary markets are correlated. (That means they move in relationship to each other, Kipling.)

When prices of new condos rise, regardless of the reason, some perspective buyers will be priced out and will seek other alternatives, one of which is houses for sale on the secondary market. This will increase demand and as supply is more or less fixed, it will cause prices for existing homes to rise. In other words, the value of your house is rising.

Surprise surprise, this is what we are seeing in the secondary market.

In the previous bubble economy, housing prices rose steadily in tandem with stock prices.

But the current situation is that while stock prices are going up, house prices are actually going down. This is due to the stock price drop six months ago. Six months from now, there is a possibility that real estate prices will rise reflecting the current high stock prices.

It is true that there is currently a possibility that real estate prices will rise, but there are three sources of concern.

The first is that Japan's financial system is currently undergoing considerable transformation beneath the surface.

As a result, the number of people who do not get a home loan or who have had their mortgage canceled by the bank is increasing.

The second is that there is a possibility that Japan's interest rate will be raised in order to eliminate the gap with the US interest rate hike.

Another reason is that interest rates on US mortgages used to range from 2% to 3%, but now exceed 6% in some cases.

The future stagnation of the US economy will naturally spread to the Japanese economy.

Those who want to invest in Japanese housing must be discerning.

Surprise surprise, this is what we are seeing in the secondary market.

there are approx 6 million abandoned or unseds dwellings in Japan, I dont see

the demand for them growing to a point that demand exceed supply and the prices rises attached

Pass