The average sales price of a newly constructed apartment in Japan reached a record high of ¥51,150,000 ($443,000 USD) in 2021 (up 2.9% compared to 2020) and the fifth consecutive year of year-on-year record increases.
The average price per square meter reached ¥784,000 ($6,784 USD) per square meter, which was also the fifth consecutive year of year-on-year record increases (up 3.4% YoY in 2021) and an all-time high.
Record-setting sales prices are being driven by high land acquisition costs and a shortage of labor in the construction industry. Japan’s historically low interest rate environment has also been a key consideration when people are penciling out whether to buy or rent.
Also, as more and more people are working from home as a result of the pandemic, consumers are looking to buy their own apartment so that they can accommodate telecommuting. Many buyers, especially in Tokyo are double-income households who can afford to bid on higher-end properties near the city center. These various demand factors are propping up high sales prices.
Although not captured in the data below, these trends are also propelling the demand for more spacious single-family homes and for resale apartments, which are less expensive than newly built condominiums.
The key takeaways and data below comes from the Real Estate Economic Research Institute’s nationwide new condominium market trends report for 2021.
Units sold 2012 to 2021
Last year, developers sold 77,552 newly constructed condominium units, an increase of 29.5% year-on-year. Very strong nationwide sales numbers were led by especially robust sales in the Tokyo metropolitan region and Kansai region (which includes the prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto, and Hyogo).
The number of units sold last year surpassed pre-COVID (2019) annual sales results by almost 10% (77,552 units nationwide in 2021 versus 70,660 in 2019).
The number of condominium units sold in Tokyo metropolitan area (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba), which accounted for more than 40% of the total, increased by 23.5% compared to the 2020. Every region in the country, including Kansai, Tokai/Chukyo (Nagoya), Hokkaido, Kyushu/Okinawa surpassed 2020 sales.
Due to the pandemic, sales in 2020 plummeted below 60,000 units nationwide, the first time since 1976 that sales dipped below the 60,000 mark. The strong results in 2021 are a strong indication that the market has recovered from pandemic lows. The chart above shows unit sales numbers for the past ten years (2012 to 2021) and suggests that if supply can keep up with buyer demand and if interest rates remain low, there is still room for unit sales to increase in the coming years, especially in the Tokyo metro region.
Sales price 2012 to 2021
The chart below shows the average sales price of a newly constructed condominium sold in Japan and by region, from 2012 to 2021.
Sales price per square meter 2012 to 2021
The chart below shows the average sales price per square meter of a newly constructed condominium sold in Japan and by region, from 2012 to 2021.
For further data by region:
2021 Toko metropolitan new condominium market – Year in review
2021 Kansai new condominium market trends report – Year in review
2021 Kyushu new condominium market trends report – Year in review
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Source: Real Estate Economic Research Institute’s nationwide new condominium market trends report for 2021 (PDF in Japanese)
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