The average overall price of land in Japan as of July 1 rose 1.4 percent from a year earlier, marking the third consecutive year of increase and the sharpest advance since 1992, amid growing inbound tourism and foreign investment due to the weak yen, government data showed Tuesday.
Commercial land saw a 2.4
percent jump and residential land a 0.9 percent rise, both also advancing for the third straight year and at the sharpest pace since 1992, when land prices tumbled as the country’s asset-inflated economic bubble burst, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
“Unlike the short-term buying and selling during the bubble period, prices are steadily increasing, reflecting actual demand,” the ministry report said.
After recovering from the financial crisis triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the coronavirus pandemic, the market has been increasingly on an upward trend.
Regional land prices also climbed for the second year in a row, but the report showed some dark spots, with a significant price drop observed in central Japan’s Noto region, still affected by an earthquake that struck on New Year’s Day.
Prices increased significantly across the board in Japan’s three largest urban areas centered on the cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, with residential prices climbing for the third consecutive year and prices of land for commercial use increasing for the 12th straight
year.
In regional areas of Japan, residential land prices rose 0.1 percent, commercial-use land prices rose 0.9 percent, and land prices overall grew 0.4 percent.
Prices for residential land increased in 17 of Japan’s 47 prefectures. Commercial land prices, easily influenced by growth in inbound tourism, rose in 28.
The Meidi-ya Ginza
commercial building site in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district fetched the highest price per square meter of 42.1 million yen ($300,000), topping the list for the 19th consecutive year.
Source: Kyodo
