An average price of land in Japan this year fell 0.6 percent from last year for the first decline in three years as the coronavirus pandemic caused a drop in land demand for commercial operations such as hotels and shops, government data showed Tuesday.
Among 21,519 sites surveyed across the country, 60.1 percent saw their prices fall as of July 1, according to the data released by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry.
Prices rose from a year earlier in 21.4 percent of the total sites, but the ministry said prices of many of those sites reflected market conditions before the pandemic. Prices were flat in 18.5 percent of the surveyed spots.