Condo supply in Tokyo area dips below 50,000 for 1st time in 16 yrs+

TOKYO, April 15 Kyodo - The number of new condominiums put on sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area in fiscal 2008 to this March declined 30.9 percent from the previous year to 40,166 units, sliding below the 50,000 mark for the first time since fiscal 1992, the Real Estate Economic Institute said Wednesday.

The sharp drop was apparently because consumer sentiment was damaged badly by
condo price hikes and a string of condo marketer failures amid the worsening
economy, the private research agency said.
New condo prices averaged 47.57 million yen per unit, up 1.3 percent from a
year earlier.
The monthly ratio of condo units that found buyers to total supply averaged
64.1 percent, below the 70 percent threshold above which sales are generally
considered good.
By geographic areas, new condo supply tumbled 12.1 percent in Tokyo's 23 wards
and plunged 51.7 percent in the rest of Tokyo. The figure nosedived 26.4
percent in Kanagawa Prefecture, 39.5 percent in Saitama Prefecture and 46.2
percent in Chiba Prefecture.
In March alone, the number of condos supplied plunged 46.2 percent from a year
earlier to 2,390 units, marking a year-on-year decline for 19 months in a row.
Units that were purchased accounted for an impressive 78.3 percent of total
condos that hit the market.
Inventories declined to 8,846 units, down 973 units from the end of February.
This means condo marketers reduced the number of condos on sale while making
progress on the inventory rundown. This provides some glimmer of hope for the
industry, analysts say.
==Kyodo
2009-04-15 22:53:52