Photo/Illutration A model of Harumi Flag. Applications to live in one of the two skyscraper apartment buildings called Sky Duo, center, will begin on July 8. (Go Takahashi)

Applications to purchase units in the last two available skyscraper apartment buildings in a complex that housed athletes during the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will begin on July 8.

This time around, measures have been taken to prevent resellers looking to make a quick profit. 

In previous sales, buyers flocked to purchase the luxury apartments, attracted by their affordability compared to the surrounding market price and their location in the popular bay area close to Tokyo’s Ginza district.

The odds of winning an apartment in the lottery reached a high of 1 in 266.

The apartments going on sale this time are in two 50-story buildings called Sky Duo.

Applications will be accepted from July 8 to July 16, with the lottery scheduled for July 17.

The two skyscrapers with 1,455 units account for about 35 percent of the 4,145 units in all 19 buildings in Harumi Flag, which served as the athletes’ village for the Tokyo Games held in 2021.

Residents are expected to move in starting in the autumn of 2025.

Unlike previous properties, the two apartment buildings are newly constructed and were not used as part of the athletes’ village.

Harumi Flag in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward is popular due to its affordability compared to the surrounding market.

The average price of new apartments in the ward from January to May was 132.27 million yen ($919,000), with an average space of around 74 square meters, according to Lifull Home’s, a real estate and housing information service.

In comparison, the Sky Duo for the first batch of sales is priced between 60 million and 140 million yen for an apartment that has three bedrooms and one bath and is around 70 to 85 square meters.

Therefore, investors and real estate agencies aiming to flip the properties also applied for multiple units in previous sales, leading to a skyrocketing lottery rate.

Some properties were even resold at a price exceeding the original sales price by more than 30 million yen.

In response, the Tokyo metropolitan government, which also owns the land, requested that the sellers of Harumi Flag take measures to make it easier for the public to buy the apartments.

In this round of sales, measures that include limiting applications to a maximum of two units per individual and doubling the chances of winning for those who applied for a property as their “first choice” have been taken.

Related News