Selling much more than they’re buying
Tsutenkaku tower in Osaka, Japan. Nattee Chalermtiragool / Shutterstock.com
Foreign investors are shunning the expensive Japanese property market as real estate prices continue to rise.
There were JPY595 billion (USD5.72 billion) more in property sales from foreign investors than purchases in the first nine months of the year, the Nikkei Asian Review reported, citing data from the Urban Research Institute of Mizuho Financial Group. In a new record since 2012, total purchases between January and September collapsed 80 percent to JPY130.2 billion (USD1.2 billion) from the same period last year.
Foreign investors sold JPY330.1 billion (USD3.2 billion) over the same period in 2013, and the figure for the entire year is likely to reach a record, the researchers noted.
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Lowered interest in purchases may be attributed to skyrocketing prices all over the country, partly caused by the strengthening yen, according to institute head Shigeo Hirayama. Investors consequently take advantage of the prices and resort to turning profits.
Prime rents in Tokyo alone are growing the fastest in Asia, with a 9 percent year-on-year growth in the second quarter, according to Knight Frank’s latest Prime Global Rental Index.
Real estate transactions in Japan amounted to JPY2.79 trillion (USD26.7 billion) between January and September of this year, according to real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle.
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Source : property-report.com
Read more…Why foreign investors are turning their back on Japan
