Condominium

Japanese real estate essentials: The city planning law : You need to understand before you buy a property in Japan

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What is the purpose of the city planning law ?

The city planning law which is set by the Ministry of land infrastructure transport and tourism (MLIT)

exists to regulate urban development.

The law divide Japan into mainly two parts :

1.The city planning area which is regulated by the city planning law

2. The non-city planning area which is not regulated by this law

City planning area is mainly divided into urbanization promotion areas where development is promoted and urbanization restricted areas where the development is restricted.

Urbanization restricted areas consist of agricultural, forestry and fishery projects.

Urbanization restricted areas are not allowed to build residential, office and retail properties.

*

For example, if you want buy a land in the agricultural areas, you may not able to build your own house.

Don’t forget to check the relevant law and regulation before you purchase such land.

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Buying a very affordable condominium in Japan ?: Do the due diligence

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Irresistible ?

I receive a number of inquiries about very affordable and yet old condominiums from foreign nationals.

They don’t know much about Japanese market.

Japan is facing serious social issues including ageing society and shrinking population.

And old condominiums are facing similar realities especially in the regional areas.

I am not saying all old condominiums are risky but please do not jump at the gun only because they are cheap.

You need to carefully investigate the property and check the potential risks.

Real estates are totally controlled by the market mechanism and they are cheap for a reason.

That said, if you carefully search, you could get a relatively good investment.

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Where is the most expensive location in Tokyo ?：Latest PER report by Tokyo kantei

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Where is the most expensive location in Tokyo ?

Ginza in Chuo-ku.

You are right. In terms of face value, Ginza is the most expensive location in Japan and those expensive

locations are commercial areas.

What about the condos relative to the ratio of rent ?

With the rise in land prices, real estate has become difficult to buy year after year.

Where is the area which is relatively cheaper than other areas in terms of the payback period using

the rent you have to pay ?

Real estate research firm Tokyo Kantei announces “Condominium PER” every year for new condos

as one of the judgment criteria.

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Is it a good investment ? Due Diligence For high-rise condominium buyers : What You Need to Check

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High-rise condominiums sometimes meet fierce resistance from residents who believe their neighborhoods are being overwhelmed by soaring glass towers.

In Japan, a number of rich and famous are living in those high rise condominiums.
But are they really good investment ? What are the potential risks ?

The higher that buildings can stretch into the sky, the more money that developers can command for sweeping views.

Those luxury condominiums are called ‘tower mansion’ in Japan.

I know it sounds very confusing.

In Japan mansions aren’t massive houses and estates for the rich and famous.

They are conventional apartments for regular people

(manshon ~ マンション).

Japanese mansions are the equivalent of condominiums.

People buy them to live in or rent out.

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Encountering the marked down properties ? : Market update January-March 2019 Investment properties

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Let’s face it.

Kenbiya  (One of Japan’s major internet web sites on the real estate property for the investment) recently announced the latest market update

for the first quarter of 2019. I am quickly sharing the summary of the report today.

Price:  The average asking price 

Yield :Gross yield. It is calculated as a percentage based on the property’s market value divided by the income generated by the property

          (before finance cost/management cost/tax)

Overall Japan

Condominiums (one unit)

January-March 2019

Yield 7.36% (-0.45 points compared to the previous quarter)

Ave Price 15.51 million yen (+ 10.79 point )

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Expect home sales to continue on a downward trend ? : Japan real estate market recap 2018

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Happy new year 2019 !　Year of Boar.

New year has just begun and I would like to quickly review the market using some statistics.
The data always tells you the fact. How to read the data is a key for success.
It is too early to know if housing is in another bubble in Japan (I don’t think so)
It will depend on what happens with the global economy. Unfortunately, bubbles are only recognized with 100 percent certainty
in 20/20 hindsight.

The national average standard price of land
According to the government announcement, the national average standard price of land (基準地価) published in September 2018
by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, land lots for all uses excluding forest lands nationwide
went up by 0.1% compared with the previous year, rising for the first time in 27
years since 1991. The average rate of residential areas was down 0.3% nationwide, falling for 27
consecutive years, but the rate of declines shrank 0.3% from the previous yearRead more

Can foreigners buy a property in Japan ? : Fundamental rules when acquiring a property

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Interested in buying a property in Japan where the country risk is lowest in the world ?
Japan is a rare Asian country insofar as it allows foreigners to buy a property. Foreigners can buy both land and building without special qualification.　When it comes to buying a property here, Japan has very few restrictions than the Western countries.

Ownership rights to land and building in Japan by a foreigner is also permitted just like Japanese citizens.

When a registrar has made a registration of ownership with respect to a real property with Legal Affairs Bureau, he/she shall can officially claim the title deeds of the property. However, there are restrictions on agricultural land (farmland). You need to get prior permission from a local agriculture committee (nogyo-iinkai) or governor when you buy the farmland. At least one corporate manager (one member of new owner) has to engage in full-time farming. In other words, if you want to buy farmland, you must become a farmer. The

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Japan market update. How are big players betting ? : Is it in the state of bubble ?

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JLL-Japan (JLL is an American professional services and investment management company specializing in real estate) recently held the conference in Tokyo with 400 participants from 250 companies.

JLL reported very bullish news about Tokyo market as follows: 

“Tokyo overtook London as the world’s busiest real estate market in the first quarter of 2018, with mega-deals and an unusually positive economic outlook driving demand.

Investment volumes in the Japanese capital more than doubled to US$9.1 billion in the three months to March (2017: US$4.3 billion), just beating New York (US$9 billion) and way ahead of third-placed London (US$5.9 billion).

Global deal volumes rose 15 percent to US$165 billion, making the start of 2018 the biggest quarter for commercial real estate deals since 2007. Asia Pacific transactions rose 34 percent to US$40 billion.”

Tokyo will continue to see the many office construction sites till 2020 and it would make the rental growth slow but the rents have been steady and are still rising.

According to a report by the prominent Japanese real estate consulting firm ‘Sanki shoji’, the vacancy rate of offices in upscale locations in Tokyo as of September 2018 stands at only 2.33 percent (down 0.12 percent from the previous month) and the rents have been steadily rising in last twelve months.
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The best buy places to own a new condo unit in Japan

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（Kashiwa station, Chiba)

Do you want to know the best buy places to own a condo unit in Japan ?

Toyokeizai, one of the renowned business magazines in Japan
recently featured the unique real estate (condo unit for home) information in Japan.

The magazine picked up some best buy railways stations in greater Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya to own for your home.

The ranking is based on unique method of PER (Price Earning Ratio).
This particular PER is used to calculate the length (years) to pay back the property price
(new 3 bed room unit with 70 m2) if you rent out.

For example, Read more

What to Know About Defects Problems and Industry Issues in Japan Before You Buy a Condo

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In Japan’s condominium industry, there are some serious issues.
In 2015,  there was a huge scandal involving the condo complex called
“Park city La La Yokohama” developed by Mitsui Fudosan.

Mitsui Fudosan is the top developer in Japan.

Construction based on false data was carried out in October 2015, and a scandal where the building was inclined was discovered because the plurality of piles did not reach the appropriate depth in the ground. Safety for earthquake resistance was suspected.Read more