Nationwide land prices rise for the second consecutive year Residential areas in rural areas also rise for the first time in 2 years

As of January, the overall average of land prices nationwide increased by 1.1% compared to last year, marking the second consecutive year of growth.
In areas other than the "three major metropolitan areas" and the "four regional cities," land prices in residential areas have started to rise for the first time in 6 years, and the trend of rising land prices is spreading to rural areas as well.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has announced the results of the "Land Price Public Announcement," which examines prices as of January 2 at approximately 6000,1 locations nationwide.

As a result, the overall average for residential and commercial areas combined was 1.1% higher than last year.

This is the second consecutive year of growth, and the rate of increase has also increased by 6 percentage point compared to last year.

By use, residential land and commercial land increased 2.1% and 1.4%, both up for two consecutive years.

By area, the three major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya saw an overall average of 1.8%, residential land by 2.3%, and commercial land by 2.1%.

In the four regional cities of Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka, the overall average was 1.7%, residential land was 2.9%, and commercial land was 4.8%.

In the four regional cities, the rate of increase was high mainly due to the progress of redevelopment projects in each region.

Furthermore, in regions other than the "three major metropolitan areas" and the "four regional cities," the overall average was plus 5.8%, the residential area was plus 6.8%, and the commercial land was plus 1.4%, all turning positive from last year's negative to 3.4%.

In particular, the rise in residential land was the first in 0 years since 4, and the trend of rising land prices in urban areas is spreading to rural areas.

Regarding the results, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said, "Land prices, which had weakened due to the effects of the new coronavirus, have been recovering significantly from before the corona disaster, as seen in the expansion of the range of increase in rural areas while the economy is picking up moderately."

The highest in the whole country was

The highest land price in Japan was in Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, where the land price was 1.512 million yen per square meter.

It is up 2.4% from last year and is the highest price for six consecutive years.

This means that the demand for convenient luxury condominiums in the city center is increasing further.

The commercial area was the Yamano Musical Instruments Ginza Main Store in Ginza 6-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, which cost 4.1 million yen per square meter.

It has been the highest price for 5380 consecutive years.

The rate of increase was plus 17.1%, which turned positive from last year, which was negative due to the impact of the new coronavirus.

In addition to strong consumption by the wealthy, expectations that inbound demand will recover have also led to a rise in land prices.

The industrial area was Tokai 5-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo, and it cost 2,1 yen per square meter.

The rate of increase was 74.3%, which means that demand is high as a logistics base with good access to expressways and other facilities against the backdrop of an increase in online shopping.

In terms of rate of increase, the suburbs of Sapporo City occupy the top position.

The places with the highest rate of increase in this land price announcement were the suburbs of Sapporo City in both residential and commercial areas.

【Residential area】
The top residential area with the highest rate of increase is Kitahiroshima City, Hokkaido.

The highest was 1% in Kyoeicho 30-chome, Kitahiroshima City.

This is followed by Misawa 3-chome, Kitahiroshima City, with an increase of 29.4%, and Higashikyoei 2-chome, Kitahiroshima City, with an increase of 29.2%.

Commercial land:
In commercial areas, Sakaemachi 1-chome, Kitahiroshima City, increased 28.4%.

This was followed by Kitahiroshima City Chuo 2-chome, which increased by 25%.

In Kitahiroshima City, demand is increasing due to the opening of the new home ground of professional baseball Japan Ham, which has improved convenience through the development of infrastructure such as roads and the opening of commercial facilities, as well as a sense of discount in land prices compared to neighboring Sapporo City.

In addition, the third place in terms of increase in commercial land was 3-chome, Midoricho, Eniwa City, a suburb of Sapporo City, with an increase of 2.24%.

【Industrial area】
The largest increase in land prices in industrial areas was in Nishizaki-cho 6-chome, Itoman City, Okinawa Prefecture, with an increase of 5.25%.

The demand for logistics facilities is increasing due to the improvement of surrounding roads and improved access to Naha Airport and Naha Port.

Reopening stores as downtown Tokyo returns to life

Even in downtown Tokyo, where demand for land had fallen due to the Corona disaster, land prices have started to rise and the rate of increase has expanded due to the return of bustle.

In the area around Shinjuku 3-chome in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, land prices, which were minus 1.7% in last year's survey, have started to rise to 3.5% this year.

In the background is the recovery of the flow of people due to the normalization of the economy from the corona disaster.

According to mobile phone location data collected by the IT-related company "Agoop" without identifying individuals, the nighttime crowd near Kabukicho in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo on Saturday, March 18, more than doubled compared to the average night from July to September, when the fourth state of emergency was declared.

As the bustle returns to the area, there are cases of restaurants opening again.

The izakaya chain, which has five stores in Tokyo, opened a new store in Shinjuku 4-chome last November in anticipation of a recovery in demand for eating out as the economy normalized.

There are days when it is full on weekends, so this month the number of customers has increased by about 7% compared to last November.

When I showed the terminal where the number of reservations by day was recorded, I found that in November last year, right after the opening, there were only a few groups of reservations per day, but now there are reservations for most of the time on weekends.

In addition, the number of foreign tourists visiting the store was about one group per week around November, but now about one to two groups come to the store every day.

Akihiro Yoshida, manager of Furuya Shoji, a company that operates a restaurant chain, said, "When we opened the restaurant in November last year, the effects of the new coronavirus were still continuing, but we decided to open a store because we thought that there was only a chance that the property would be vacant now. I was talking.

The background of the rise in land prices and future prospects are explained in QA for more information.

We asked Takeshi Ide, Senior Senior Researcher of Tokyo Kantei, a real estate research company, about the background to the rise in land prices and the outlook for the future.

Q.This is the second consecutive year of growth. What is influencing?
A.I think it is significant that economic activity is returning to a situation close to that of the pre-pandemic era.
Increased demand for residential areas has led to a nationwide rise in land prices.
I have the impression that many commercial areas are strongly affected by the opening and renewal of new facilities.
A large facility is built and customers use it. In addition, employment is created in the surrounding area, and there are cases of settling down. I think this phenomenon is happening in various places, including rural areas.
In addition, with the return of the number of people, we believe that the demand for food and beverages will increase in the future.

Q.Residential areas in rural areas also rose for the first time in 28 years. Where are the factors?
A.The movement of rising land prices in the prefectural capital is still strong, so I think the movement of increasing concentration continues.
In addition, while housing prices are rising overall, cities other than the prefectural capital, which are blessed with convenient transportation, seem to be attracting attention and being selected.
I feel that there is a growing tendency to place more importance on housing.
In terms of space, I think there was a movement to some extent to move to a larger house a little further away than a narrow house in the center of town.
In addition, various local governments have a sense of crisis about the declining population and are attracting commercial facilities and companies.
In such places, there is a noticeable tendency for land prices to rise.

Q.Land prices for commercial land have recovered even in central Tokyo, which declined last year due to a decline in office demand.
A.Office sales are on a recovery trend, and demand is resilient.
There is a huge need for people to move to an office or to move to an office in a good location. As the economy as a whole is recovering, there is also a demand for expanding offices.

Q.In Tokyo, large-scale redevelopment buildings are scheduled to open one after another, but what will be the impact on the supply and demand of offices?
A.It has long been pointed out that the supply of offices in Tokyo will increase, and this year will be the peak. For this reason, a certain increase in the vacancy rate has been expected, but I don't think the vacancy rate has risen as much as expected.
However, it seems that some offices have difficulty deciding on tenants, and vacancies are not filled.
The fact that new buildings are being built more and more through redevelopment also means that competition in buildings and offices is intensifying.
There is a difference between which offices are chosen and which are not.

Q.What measures are necessary to capture office needs?
A.The location is a big factor. However, more than that, I think it will be selected by usability.
The large supply of offices also means that it is easy for tenants to relocate. Whether you can adjust the way you use the office according to the tenant's wishes will make a difference. I think the big thing about this is consideration for the environment.
Overseas, there is a phenomenon that offices that have not been able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are not selected.
However, I believe that such a phenomenon may occur in the future, even in Japan.
Many owners must have a sense of crisis that if they do not start taking environmental measures now, it will be too late.
If we do not take these measures, I think that some buildings will have more vacancies in the future.

Q.What is the outlook for land prices in the future?
A.The biggest impact on land prices is on interest rate trends.
Interest rates have remained low in Japan, but with the change of BOJ governor, a higher outlook for interest rates has begun to emerge.
Although this is not reflected in the recent land price announcement, there are cases where property prices have recently paused from the rapid rise in property prices.
Future land prices will also be affected by what happens to Japan's monetary policy.