Living Tokyo

MONTH

2015年8月

All Blog Entries
  • 08/23/2015
  • 02/22/2021

Tokyo: Prices reach 23-year high for newly-built apartments, luxury types take the lead

Hanabi (fireworks) is not the only thing going ???boom??? in Tokyo these days. Tokyo???s real estate market is also enjoying a boom of its own. According to a recent report published by the Real Estate Economic Institute, the average price of new apartments released for sale in 23-Ward Tokyo reached JPY79.84m, an increase of 27.9% year-on-year (YoY). The average price per square meter was JPY1,199,000, representing a YoY growth of 34.6%. An increase in the supply of higher-end condos and the rising construction costs are cited as key reasons for this price growth. More interestingly, sales of luxury, high-end properties costing over JPY100m now represent over one fifth of the entire 23-ward market. While there were 2,020 units on the market in July for 23-ward Tokyo, of which 83.3% were sold (1,684 units), out of this, 417 units (22% of the total) ?had cost over JPY100 million. One key example of this rapid growth is the Brillia Towers Meguro development in the Meguro station area. A total of 603 units were sold in July, of which the average price tag was a whopping JPY111.47m. Apparently, there were an average of 3.4 offers for every unit released for sale, and as […]

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  • 08/11/2015
  • 02/25/2021

Tokyo 23-Ward secondhand houses exceed JPY100m average

According to the second-hand home sales report published by Tokyo Kantei, the average price of a second-hand detached house within Tokyo???s 23 wards was JPY100.04 million for the month of July, representing a 15.8% YoY (year-on-year) increase. Top sellers were Minato, Meguro and Shibuya wards. The criteria of properties under this survey are wooden, detached houses that are over 100sqm but under 300sqm in size, and are within 30 mins walking access of train routes or 20 mins access of bus routes. To give an idea about the property, in Tokyo???s 23 wards, the average land area for a detached, second-hand house hovers around 145.3sqm with a constructed house size of 138.8sqm (July data, but not so different from previous months). The average age of the building was 22.5 years in July. In comparison, in July, for the same type of property, in the Tokyo Metropolitan area (Tokyo-To), excluding the 23 wards, the average price reached JPY63.36 million (an increase of 9.9% YoY), while the average price for greater Tokyo (aka the suburbs) was only JPY35.71 million (representing a 3.1% YoY growth. Click here for the whole press release: http://www.kantei.ne.jp/release/PDFs/kodatecyuko201507.pdf (Japanese only).

All Blog Entries
  • 08/08/2015
  • 02/25/2021

Pocket-sized personal transporters could soon be seen on the streets of Tokyo

Technology | Fri Aug 7, 2015 2:06pm EDT Reuters: A Japanese engineer has developed a portable transporter small enough to be carried in a backpack that he says is the world’s first ‘car in a bag’. Twenty-six-year-old Kuniako Saito and his team at Cocoa Motors recently unveiled the lithium battery-powered “WalkCar” transporter, which is the size of a laptop and resembles a skateboard more than a car. The slender WalkCar is made from aluminum and weighs between two and three kilograms (4.4 to 6.6 pounds), depending on whether it is an indoor or outdoor version. Saito expects to see many other uses for his transporter, as he says it has enough power to help people push wheelchairs with ease. The lightweight aluminum board is stronger than it looks, and can take loads of up to 120kg (265 pounds). It reaches top speeds of 10 kilometers per hour (6.2 miles per hour), for distances of up to 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) after three hours of charging. Its developer says it’s also extremely simple to ride. Once the rider stands on it the WalkCar starts automatically, while simply stepping off stops the vehicle. To change direction, the user just shifts their weight. […]