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Greater Tokyo existing-condominium prices reached another record in the first half of 2026, but the strongest growth is no longer concentrated in the most expensive parts of central Tokyo. Photo by Ryo Yoshitake on Unsplash Tokyo Kantei's standardized existing-condominium market-price measure for Greater Tokyo rose 9.1% from the previous half-year to JPY 5.042 million per tsubo, the first reading above JPY 5 million since the series began. The Tokyo 23 wards also remained str

MUFG Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation raised variable housing-loan rates by 0.25 percentage points on September 1, increasing financing costs for new homebuyers already facing high residential property prices. At MUFG, the preferential variable rate for qualifying new borrowers rose from 0.945% in August to 1.195% in September. Its posted variable rate is now 3.375%. SMBC also raised its posted variable rate from 3.125% to 3.375%. Its September preferential rate f

Japanese household financial assets grew more than three times as fast as annual income between 2019 and 2024, helping explain how some buyers have remained able to participate in a housing market increasingly detached from salary growth. Average annual household income reached JPY 5.937 million in 2024, up 6.3% from 2019, according to the Statistics Bureau of Japan's new 2024 National Survey of Family Income, Consumption and Wealth, released August 28th. Average financial as

Japan’s condominium management companies are increasingly proposing not only higher repair reserve contributions but also longer repair cycles, postponed work and reduced repair specifications as rising repair costs put pressure on building finances. A new survey by the Mansion Management Companies Association found that 272 of 290 responding management companies had proposed increasing repair reserve contributions at one or more properties they managed during the previous ye

Redevelopment projects across Japan are increasingly being delayed, scaled back or cancelled as soaring construction costs undermine project economics. What began as a regional “wait-and-see” trend is now spreading to prime central Tokyo, including redevelopment plans involving the Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa and the Imperial Hotel Tokyo. With material costs expected to rise further amid worsening tensions in the Middle East, developers have few signs of relief. Regional