Flat 35 survey shows shift in buyer preferences and profiles in FY2024

Adam German
2 days ago
2 min read

On July 25th, the Japan Housing Finance Agency (JHF) released the results of its Flat 35 Borrower Survey for fiscal 2024, covering the period from April 2024 to March 2025.

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The data is based on 27,523 mortgage applications - excluding refinancing - approved by the agency either for direct purchase or insurance underwriting. The survey analyzed borrower demographics and housing types.

Existing Homes See Largest Growth in Share

In terms of financing type:

Existing homes (combined total of secondhand condominiums and single-family homes) accounted for 34.8%, a 7.4-point increase year-on-year.
Custom-built single-family homes (SFH) fell sharply to 34.9%, down 9.3 points.
Condominiums (new builds) declined slightly to 7.2%, down 0.9 points.
Spec-built SFH rose to 23.1%, an increase of 2.7 points.

Borrowers Getting Older

The average age of borrowers continued its upward trend since fiscal 2017, reaching 44.5 years, up 0.2 years from the previous year.

Age breakdown came in as follows:

30s: 29.2% (down 1.2 points)
40s: 26.8% (down 0.8 points)
50s: 18.7% (up 1.1 points)
60 and older: 14.3% (up 0.4 points)
Under 30: 11.0% (up 0.4 points)

The average buyer age rose particularly among those purchasing custom-built SFH and new condominiums. The most common household type was two-person households, comprising 28.7% of all borrowers.

Household Incomes Rising, Especially for New Builds

The average household income increased for the third consecutive year to ¥6.69 million, up ¥800,000 year-on-year. Income levels rose across all housing categories except for existing condominiums.

Average Total Acquisition Costs by Property Type

The average total capital required per loan, including land acquisition (where applicable), construction, and ancillary costs, varied by housing type as follows:

New condominiums: ¥55.92 million (YoY +¥3.47 million)
Land and custom-built SFH: ¥50.07 million (YoY +¥1.04 million)
Custom-built SFH (excluding land): ¥39.36 million (YoY +¥730,000)
Spec-built SFH: ¥38.26 million (YoY +¥2.23 million)
Existing condominiums: ¥30.33 million (YoY -¥40,000)
Existing SFH: ¥25.73 million (YoY +¥370,000)