The number of new condominiums put on sale in the greater Tokyo area in July plunged 44.5 percent to 3,554 from a year ago, stretching its slump to 11 consecutive months with the sharpest drop since October 1996, a research agency said Thursday.
Condos that went on sale and found buyers accounted for 53.5 percent of the total, down 20.6 percentage points from a year earlier, the Real Estate Economic Institute said.
Recent news reports on property firm bankruptcies, such major condo marketer Zephir Co. last month, have spooked consumers, and persistently high condo prices are also deterring potential buyers, industry observers said.
Urban Corp. filed Wednesday with the Tokyo District Court for protection, marking the biggest corporate failure this year.
The slump in sales combined with a decline in bank lending has squeezed real estate companies, leading to a series of bankruptcies in the sector.
In all, bankruptcies of real estate firms more than doubled to 60 in July from 27 a year earlier, according to credit research firm Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd.
"Demand for new homes has weakened, and we believe residential investment is unlikely to recover much further in coming quarters," said Hiroshi Shiraishi, an economist at Lehman Brothers in Tokyo.
The price per condo averaged ¥53.09 million, up 0.08 percent.
In Osaka and five surrounding prefectures, the supply of new condominiums plummeted 29.5 percent to 1,786 units. Of these, 56.3 percent were sold, down 12.0 percentage points.