INTRODUCTION
Condo sales prices in Tokyo have been gradually increasing since 2011. On the back of improving economic conditions and a low interest rate environment, housing demand was rising, and developers were thus able to transfer the increasing costs of construction and land purchases to buyers. Now, however, the rising condo prices have made buyers increasingly cautious, leading to lower contract rates and supply, especially after 2015. Meanwhile, despite signs of demand cooling, prices remain elevated thanks to the unwillingness of deep-pocketed developers to lower prices.
The global pandemic has unquestionably shifted the preferences of the capital’s residents, and this has been observed in the demographics with some moving away from the 23 wards (23W) to more suburban areas. That said, the central wards remain popular, broadly maintaining positive population growth over the past year. With that in mind, a greater divergence in condo demand between prime areas and less popular areas could be on the horizon, leading to new market trends on which some shrewd developers could capitalise.
