Tokyo, Sept. 15 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s land prices rose for the fifth consecutive year amid a mild economic recovery trend in the country, the land ministry said Monday. As of July 1, the nationwide average land price climbed 1.5 pct from a year earlier, with residential land prices rising 1.0 pct and commercial land prices rising 2.9 pct. Among the country’s three metropolitan areas, the greater Tokyo and Osaka areas posted faster growth in both residential and commercial land prices, while the Nagoya area logged slower growth. Land price growth also decelerated in the four major regional cities of Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, apparently because homebuyers are avoiding high-priced properties and seeking affordable homes in suburban areas amid rising land prices and construction costs. In regional areas other than the four cities, commercial land prices increased faster. The number of prefectures with higher residential land prices came to 20, the same as a year earlier. Residential land prices rose in Nagasaki after staying flat, and stopped falling in Tochigi and Yamaguchi. Commercial land prices rose in 34 of the country’s 47 prefectures, up by four from a year earlier. Among all prefectures, Tokyo posted the sharpest growth in both residential and commercial land prices, marking the first time in 12 years that the capital had the highest growth in commercial land prices. A residential land plot in the Akasaka district of Tokyo’s Minato Ward remained the highest-priced such plot for the eighth successive year, with its price rising to 7.5 million yen per square meter from 6.43 million yen. Among commercial land plots, a building site in the upscale Ginza district of the capital’s Chuo Ward had the highest price for the 21th consecutive year, at 52.5 million yen per square meter, up from 46.9 million yen. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
