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The story
The average price of new condominiums in the greater Tokyo area jumped 63.7% year-on-year to ¥164.93 million, while Tokyo’s 23 wards rose 96% to ¥265.20 million — both record highs. On 5ch, posters cried out with “Who can even afford this?” and “Only investors and the rich can live there now,” while others pointed to a Canadian investment fund’s ¥100 billion bulk purchase and asset inflation driven by the government’s aggressive fiscal spending.
The average price of new condominiums in the greater Tokyo area has topped ¥160 million, setting a new record high. The average price in Tokyo’s 23 wards also hit a new record, reaching ¥265.20 million.
According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, the average price of new condominiums sold in the greater Tokyo area in July rose 63.7% year-on-year to ¥164.93 million — the highest since records began.
Within that, Tokyo’s 23 wards saw a 96% increase to ¥265.20 million, also a new record high.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
That's the way to go.
I already sold mine and retired early (FIRE — Financial Independence, Retire Early).
Living it up every day in a cool mountain retreat.
Guess that's still about right.
That's a 96% jump.
Go ahead, keep buying up.
https://rio2016.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/koumu/1724138468/
Life is tough, sure, but
I got my own home anyway.
It's a detached house, so I'm living comfortably.
Well, life is tough whether you're a civil servant or work in the private sector.
'Chiba-verly Hills,' huh (a joking nickname for pricier Chiba suburbs, punning on 'Beverly Hills').
What's the actual problem?
The problem is I'm not one of those people.
Well, maxing out a mortgage and investing whatever's left over is the more profitable move.
Are you too broke to understand how interest rates work?
Excuse me?
Don't talk nonsense to me — I hold a Level 1 Certified Financial Planner license (Japan's top-tier FP qualification).
Under [PM] Takaichi's aggressive fiscal spending,
the winners are whoever borrows money and buys land.
Kind of like the old bubble era…
There's also news that new detached houses are actually the cheaper option now.
'New detached houses in Tokyo's 23 wards holding steady in the ¥90 million range — seen as a bargain versus condos, driving demand'
Products
August 12, 2026, 11:00
[Subscriber-only article]
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUB067XB0W6A800C2000000/
There was a thread about this on 5ch.io a little while back too:
'[Tokyo's 23 Wards] New detached houses holding at ¥90 million range — seen as a bargain versus condos' [Nomi no Ichi★ — a regular handle used by 5ch's automated news-thread poster]
https://asahi.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/newsplus/1786501861/
Who can even afford this?
Regulate it like Singapore does.
It's because foreign firms are buying it up as a business.
Gotta hand it to them, pretty sharp.
'Canadian fund buys up 50 domestic condo buildings in bulk for ¥100 billion, moving into the rental market'
Financial institutions
August 14, 2026, 18:00 [Paid subscriber-only article]
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUB302N90Q6A730C2000000/
Inflows of overseas investment money into Japan's housing market continue.
Canadian investment fund Brookfield recently bought up rental condominiums across the four major metro areas in bulk for over ¥100 billion.
Some see the price surge as topping out, but the fund expects resilient demand amid an inflationary economy.
Brookfield is one of the world's leading infrastructure and real estate investment funds.
It has previously invested in properties like Dentsu Group's headquarters building in Shiodome, Tokyo, but this marks its first move into Japan's residential market.
Only fools hold these as individual owners anymore.
Less than half the units in buildings like this are actually lived in.
The rooms sell fine, but since they're investment units the buildings are hollow inside.
The management association can never agree on anything, so you can guess how that ends up.
Sure, ¥200 million could build you a mansion out in the countryside, but 20 or 30 years from now when you go to sell, a Tokyo place could easily fetch ¥300-400 million.
A countryside mansion, at best, is worth next to nothing — worst case, you end up paying just to get rid of it.
You think a tower condo in Kitasenju (a once-working-class Tokyo neighborhood that's become trendy) is going to skyrocket or something?
It will.
Check back in 20 years.
It didn't hold up last time, during the bubble era.
Prefectures People Want to Live In, 2026 ranking
'Ii Heya Net Livability & Desired-to-Live-In Towns Ranking 2026 (Prefecture Edition)' released
August 19, 2026
https://www.kentaku.co.jp/news/survey/2026/sumicoco_todofuken2026.html
August 19, 2026
Livability Ranking 2026
Prefecture ranking
https://www.kentaku.co.jp/news/survey/2026/sumicoco_todofuken2026.html
Made it into the top 10 lol
Background and Key Points
The Real Estate Economic Institute (Fudōsan Keizai Kenkyūjo) is the private research body Japanese media treats as the authoritative source on new condominium supply and pricing, publishing monthly averages for “greater Tokyo” (Tokyo plus Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba) and separately for the 23 special wards. At roughly ¥150/$1, ¥164.93 million is about $1.1 million, and the 23-ward figure of ¥265.20 million is roughly $1.77 million — extraordinary sums against Japan’s median household income, which is why “who can afford this” reads as more than hyperbole. The spending PM Takaichi cited in the thread refers to fiscal stimulus that, alongside a weak yen and years of near-zero rates, has pushed both domestic and foreign capital into hard assets like real estate.
Where the thread actually diverges is not over whether prices are high — everyone agrees on that — but over whether this is a rational, leverageable opportunity (the posters urging 50-year mortgages and “invest the rest” logic) or an unsustainable, foreign-fund-driven distortion that should be curbed the way Singapore taxes non-resident buyers.
What the thread never addresses is that these are averages, not medians, and new-condo averages are unusually sensitive to product mix: a shrinking number of new launches concentrated in premium central-ward towers can drag the average up sharply even if prices for ordinary units haven’t moved nearly as much. So a 96% year-on-year jump likely reflects what got built and sold this year — fewer, more luxurious projects — as much as it reflects across-the-board appreciation, a distinction the posters’ outrage glosses over entirely.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Breaking News+) thread “Greater Tokyo’s July New Condo Prices Hit Record ¥164.93 Million Average — 23 Wards at ¥265.20 Million.”
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