気ままなリライト５０

国内不動産、海外個人も熱

With the government’s failure of meeting the slow-growth challenges the Japanese economy has been faced with by relying on the ultralow interest rate and doubling down on a weakening yen, Japan’s property market is being left at the mercy of global investors’ ambitions. With no defense against the invaders preying on much of native species’ habitat, shopping enthusiasm for the real estate attractive and affordable for invasive species is making Japanese real estate agencies rub their hands with glee.
 
At a rapid pace, the ownership of properties in Japan has been put in the hands of international investors, regardless of whether they are individual or corporate ones. According to a global brokerage firm called Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated in the US, the amount of international investment in Japanese properties reached more than 500 billion yen, an increase by 80 % year-on-year in the period between April and September 2022. The data between July and September 2022 showed that almost half of the investment in Japanese properties came from international investors. According to SINYI REALTY Inc, a Japanese arm of a Taiwan real estate brokerage in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, the Japanese property market has been magnetizing individual investors from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore as a happy hunting ground where many deals were closed. A 56 % increase in the number of deals was marked from January through September on a year-on-year comparison in the same period. A 90 % increase was recorded on a year-on-year comparison in the period between July and September. More than 20 billion yen were exchanged between Japanese real estate brokerage agencies and individual international investors during the period between January and June 2022.
 
Behind the frenzy of international investment in Japanese properties is the monetary advantage in financial transaction for money grubbers among wealthy international investors. A weakening yen is driving wealthy international investors preoccupied with making or saving money to make Japanese properties the destination of their wealth as the concern about where their wealth is pegged is being heightened due to the political tension intensified between Taiwan and China. The transparency and fluidity in financial transaction of Japanese properties enables rich Chinese investors to expect the return for their investment by selling what they buy at a profit after paying in full in cash for high-rise condominiums in prime locations where property prices are high in Japan. The ultralow interest rate is putting in an advantageous position international investors including Korean investors eligible to receive loans from Japanese banks when potential international investors are willing to strike their fangs in Japanese properties more and more.