Japanese Commercial Land Prices Stop Falling for First Time in 7 Years

Helped by an economic recovery in metropolitan areas, average commercial land prices in Japan stopped falling from the previous year for the first time in seven years in the 12 months to Jan. 1, the government said Wednesday.

Commercial land prices were unchanged in that period following a 0.5 percent fall the previous year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said in an annual survey.

Nationwide residential land prices edged down 0.4 percent in the period to Jan. 1, improving from a 0.6 percent decline a year earlier.

The average residential and commercial land prices in the three large metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya rose for the second consecutive year, as continued low interest rates as part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policies sparked solid demand for condominiums and offices.

The highest land price in Japan was 33.8 million yen (about $278,000) per square meter at Yamano Music Co.’s head office in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza shopping district.

Still, around 70 percent of local regions saw a year-on-year fall in land prices, indicating a remaining gap in an economic recovery between major and local cities.

Average residential and commercial land prices in local regions fell 1.1 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.

Among major cities in local regions, both residential and commercial land prices rose in Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, suggesting such a gap exists even among local cities.

via Mainichi

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