Japan Average Land Price Rises for 3rd Consecutive Year

Jiji Press

16:59 JST, September 18, 2024

Tokyo, Sept. 17 (Jiji Press) — The average land price in Japan as of July 1 rose 1.4 % from a year earlier, up for the third consecutive year, reflecting the mild economic recovery trend in the country, the land ministry said Tuesday.

Residential land prices increased 0.9 % as interest rates remained low, while commercial land prices grew 2.4 % on a rise in the number of visitors from abroad.

By region, overall land prices showed the first increase in 32 years in locations outside the three metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya in central Japan and Osaka in western Japan, as well as the four major regional cities of Sapporo in northern Japan, Sendai in northeastern Japan, Hiroshima in western Japan and Fukuoka in southwestern Japan.

In the three metropolitan areas, both residential and commercial land prices rose faster than a year before. Meanwhile, the four major regional cities logged slower increases in both prices.

In the other areas, overall land prices grew as commercial land prices rose faster while residential land prices fell more slowly.

Among the country’s 47 prefectures, residential land prices were up in 17 prefectures, down by one from a year earlier, while commercial land prices were up in 28 prefectures, up by six.

Demand for residential land plots continued to be supported by low mortgage rates. Those in resort areas saw higher demand from people looking to relocate or buy vacation homes.

Among commercial land plots, prices jumped in areas where semiconductor manufacturers were building plants. An increasing number of foreign visitors pushed up prices in tourist spots.

On the other hand, land prices plunged in areas affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in the central prefecture of Ishikawa on Jan. 1.

Compared with overall land prices in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 80 % of locations in the Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka metropolitan areas posted price increases, while about 30 % of those outside the areas did so.

“Land prices have recovered from the impact of the pandemic almost everywhere in the country,” a land ministry official said, noting that prices outside the metropolitan areas have been on a long-term downward trend since before the pandemic.

Among residential sites nationwide, one in the Akasaka district of Tokyo’s Minato Ward was the most expensive for the sixth year in a row, priced at ¥5.56 million  per square meter, up from ¥5.24 million  a year before.

Commercial land prices were highest in a plot in the Ginza district of the capital’s Chuo Ward for the 19th successive year, at ¥42.1 million  per square meter, up from ¥40.1 million .