Search - real_estate

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2017

With Ginza land prices above bubble-era highs, real estate analysts expect correction

Land prices in Tokyo's central Chuo Ward, home to the famous Ginza shopping district, have jumped by 51 percent in four years. In Osaka, they are up by nearly half.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2022

In China, homebuyers occupy their 'rotting,' unfinished properties

Residents face poor conditions as cash-strapped builders halt construction amid the country's deep real estate slump.
Japan Times
Hawaii report 2022
Jul 4, 2022

Avalon Group: Hawaii’s real estate experts

Avalon Group is a full-service real estate development, consulting and sales company based in downtown Honolulu.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 31, 2017

Lessons about Japan's school catchment areas

A neighbor recently asked us to sign a petition requesting that the local education committee keep a certain elementary school open. Due to falling enrollment, students who attended the school would be transferred to a different one in the near future.
JAPAN / GEARING UP FOR THE GAMES
Jan 3, 2017

Tokyo Olympics fueling expectations of an economic boom — and fear of a bubble

Third of six parts
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2014

Chinese gobble up U.S. real estate

For the first time, the Chinese have become the biggest foreign buyers of apartments in Manhattan, real estate brokers estimate, taking the mantle from the Russians — whose activity has dropped off since the unrest in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions against Russia by the United States.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 29, 2010

Real Estate and Woods

Real Estate and Woods are two of the most exciting prospects to come out of the United States recently, and if tapes were sold on indie-cred alone they would no doubt be permanent fixtures on the top-sellers lists. Both bands have been awarded the "Best New Music" seal of approval by indie tastemakers...
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2007

Real estate bond sales to set record

Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank AG, and other investment banks are on track to sell a record amount of bonds tied to real estate in Japan, where rising property prices have created a safe haven from the subprime concerns afflicting other markets.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2020

Japan's foreign student digs likely to survive — and thrive — after pandemic

Investors believe demand in housing market is here to stay, with Japan widely expected to remain an appealing option for those from abroad.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2022

China property crisis is spiraling with homebuyers’ boycott

Mounting signs of stress this week in an industry that accounts for about a quarter of the world's second-largest economy are roiling China's credit markets.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jan 14, 2022

Xi reshapes China property market, paving way for state dominance

While the endgame is still unclear, China watchers predict that the days of blistering home-price gains and debt-fueled building sprees by billionaire property tycoons are set to fade.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Nov 16, 2021

China faces GDP growth at 1990s levels amid Beijing’s property crackdown

President Xi Jinping seems willing to accept the lowest growth in three decades in order to reduce the country's dependence on its property sector.
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2019

Daiwa to expand REIT business as low rates persist

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. is expanding its real estate investment trust business as low interest rates continue to drive investors into domestic property funds.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 1998

Foreign firms cool to hot Japanese real estate

Staff writer
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 11, 2023

Lower Tokyo office vacancy rate gives relief to market after COVID-19

Historically, the city has recorded vacancy rates in the low single digits, but the market may be settling into a new normal of higher levels considering the change in work trends.
Factory activity in China contracted for a fourth straight month in August, with subindexes showing deepening deflationary pressures.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2024

China faces calls for stimulus as growth engines stall amid property woes

Factory activity contracted for a fourth month in August, with subindexes showing deflationary pressures and latest sales figures showing a worsening residential slump.
A Tokyo Star Bank branch in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024

Tiny Japan bank looks to grow by lending to offshore homebuyers

Japan’s weak yen and low interest rates have drawn overseas interest in Japanese property and boosted prices.
A lobby lounge of a luxury hotel inside Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 20, 2024

Blackstone nears $2.6 billion deal to buy Seibu’s Tokyo complex

Any sale around that amount would make it one of the most expensive single real estate transactions in Japan.
A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism official explains a new system for detecting vacant houses, on Dec. 23.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2025

Government developing AI-based system to detect vacant houses

The aim of the system is to spot such properties at an early stage and make them available for sale or rent, or demolish them before they collapse.
The number of new units for sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area fell 14.4% last year to a record low.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025

Tokyo apartment prices retreat in 2024 as market calms

The decrease — the first in six years — came after prices rose nearly 30% to a record high in 2023 when several luxury condos went up for sale.
Hong Kong's real estate sector is slumping, putting the government's development plans at risk and signaling a wider economic malaise that may become a spanner in the works of Beijing's plans to transform the territory's economy.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 7, 2025

Will China succeed in remaking Hong Kong in its own image?

Beijing can control Hong Kong politically, but to impose its economic vision on the territory it needs businesses to get on board as these face an economic and real estate plunge.
A high-rise building in Tokyo's Minato Ward built by Sumitomo Realty & Development
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2025

Elliott calls for Sumitomo Realty improvements in rare letter

The letter is a rare public move by Elliott, which has kept quiet on most of its Japan investments.
Residential buildings under construction in Shanghai in July 2022. The Chinese government risks long-term decline by repeating Japan’s policy mistakes in handling its real estate and demographic crises.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2025

China’s housing crisis is worse than it seems

Chinese policymakers — who are facing an even more severe housing and demographic crisis than Japan —are at risk of making the same mistakes.
Rapidus' new semiconductor plant under construction in Chitose, Hokkaido, in July
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 18, 2024

New high-profile chip plants driving up nearby land prices across Japan

Expectations for growth in demand for semiconductors has boosted demand for commercial and industrial plots, and housing.
Insurance tycoon Douw Steyn’s 250 million rand home overlooks the luxury residential estate bearing his name near Johannesburg, South Africa.
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2024

Luxury estates for the rich are a booming business in South Africa

Despite a 20% decline in South Africa’s millionaire population over the past decade, it remains a hub for the continent’s high-net-worth individuals.
Mori Building has been offering yoga and body stretch programs in the shared common space of its Azabudai Hills complex in Tokyo's Minato Ward for workers of tenant firms.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 15, 2025

Realtors offer healthy options for office workers of tenant firms

Many companies have learned that preparing a workplace environment in which their employees can stay healthy is key to securing talent.
A building under construction in Osaka. Singapore investors are snapping up Japanese real estate, particularly in Osaka where a large casino resort is set to open.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 27, 2023

Singapore property investors bet on Osaka casino

International property agent FM Investment said it has seen a fivefold increase in inquiries since Japan opened its borders in October.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.