ID :
41743
Tue, 01/20/2009 - 20:45
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https://oananews.org//node/41743
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New condo supply in Tokyo area plunges 28.3% in 2008
TOKYO, Jan. 20 Kyodo -
The number of condominiums put on sale in the greater Tokyo area in 2008
plummeted 28.3 percent from the previous year to 43,733 units amid the economic
slowdown, the Real Estate Economic Institute said Tuesday.
The fall was the sharpest since 1991, when the number of newly supplied condos
dived 34.5 percent amid the bursting of the nation's real estate and stock
price bubble, the institute said.
It blamed the plunge in 2008 -- the fourth consecutive yearly fall -- partly on
higher condo unit prices, which averaged 47.75 million yen during the year, up
2.8 percent. The average itself marked a sixth straight yearly increase.
The price rise discouraged many would-be buyers in the Tokyo metropolitan area
from purchasing condos during the year, an institute official said.
The higher prices partly stemmed from increased building material costs amid
the rise in crude oil prices that lasted until the middle of the calendar year.
Condo sales ''have plunged for three reasons -- higher condo prices, falling
construction starts stemming from enforcement of the stiffer building standards
law and a stricter attitude to lending at financial institutions,'' the
official said.
Many would-be buyers in Japan use five times their annual income as a guide
when deciding whether to purchase a condo, so the average price in 2008 would
have required an annual income of over 9.5 million yen, leading people to delay
buying, the official said.
On average, only 62.7 percent of condos that went on sale in a given month
found buyers by the end of that month. The average stayed below the 70 percent
line for the second year in a row. A reading below the line signifies a slump
in sales.
The institute is predicting that condo supply in the Tokyo metropolitan area --
Tokyo and Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures -- will stage a rebound
following the planned enhancement of tax incentives for home buyers in 2009,
rising 7.5 percent to 47,000 units.
In December alone, the number of condos put on sale in the area dropped 18.2
percent from a year earlier to 6,696 units, extending the decline in supply to
a record 16 months in a row, it said.
The institute said condo supply in Osaka and five surrounding prefectures fell
24.7 percent in 2008 to 22,744 units.
The average sale price in the Kinki area -- Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Shiga, Nara
and Wakayama prefectures -- rose 1.0 percent to 35.13 million yen.
On average, only 60.4 percent of condos that went on sale in a given month in
the area found buyers by the end of that month, down 7.6 percentage points.
==Kyodo
The number of condominiums put on sale in the greater Tokyo area in 2008
plummeted 28.3 percent from the previous year to 43,733 units amid the economic
slowdown, the Real Estate Economic Institute said Tuesday.
The fall was the sharpest since 1991, when the number of newly supplied condos
dived 34.5 percent amid the bursting of the nation's real estate and stock
price bubble, the institute said.
It blamed the plunge in 2008 -- the fourth consecutive yearly fall -- partly on
higher condo unit prices, which averaged 47.75 million yen during the year, up
2.8 percent. The average itself marked a sixth straight yearly increase.
The price rise discouraged many would-be buyers in the Tokyo metropolitan area
from purchasing condos during the year, an institute official said.
The higher prices partly stemmed from increased building material costs amid
the rise in crude oil prices that lasted until the middle of the calendar year.
Condo sales ''have plunged for three reasons -- higher condo prices, falling
construction starts stemming from enforcement of the stiffer building standards
law and a stricter attitude to lending at financial institutions,'' the
official said.
Many would-be buyers in Japan use five times their annual income as a guide
when deciding whether to purchase a condo, so the average price in 2008 would
have required an annual income of over 9.5 million yen, leading people to delay
buying, the official said.
On average, only 62.7 percent of condos that went on sale in a given month
found buyers by the end of that month. The average stayed below the 70 percent
line for the second year in a row. A reading below the line signifies a slump
in sales.
The institute is predicting that condo supply in the Tokyo metropolitan area --
Tokyo and Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures -- will stage a rebound
following the planned enhancement of tax incentives for home buyers in 2009,
rising 7.5 percent to 47,000 units.
In December alone, the number of condos put on sale in the area dropped 18.2
percent from a year earlier to 6,696 units, extending the decline in supply to
a record 16 months in a row, it said.
The institute said condo supply in Osaka and five surrounding prefectures fell
24.7 percent in 2008 to 22,744 units.
The average sale price in the Kinki area -- Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Shiga, Nara
and Wakayama prefectures -- rose 1.0 percent to 35.13 million yen.
On average, only 60.4 percent of condos that went on sale in a given month in
the area found buyers by the end of that month, down 7.6 percentage points.
==Kyodo
