Photo/Illutration The Ginza 5-chome area in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward on June 24 (Yuta Hanano)

Average land prices across Japan rose by 2.3 percent from the previous year, the third consecutive year of increase, the National Tax Agency said July 1.

The prices, as of Jan. 1, marked the first jump exceeding 2 percent in 16 years.

The recovery in inbound visitors to Japan, redevelopment projects in various areas, and rising demand for housing have pushed up property values, the agency said.

Average land prices rose in 29 prefectures, including Tokyo.

Among Japan’s 47 prefectures, the largest increase was reported in Fukuoka, at 5.8 percent, followed by Okinawa at 5.6 percent, Tokyo at 5.3 percent, Hokkaido at 5.2 percent, and Miyagi at 5.1 percent.

Aichi Prefecture saw a 3.2-percent rise in land prices, while the increase in Osaka Prefecture was 3.1 percent.

The sharpest increase per tax office was recorded in Hakuba village, Nagano Prefecture. Hakuba’s rise by 32.1 percent was attributed largely to the surge in tourist numbers.

Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, followed with a 24-percent increase. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is expected to soon open a huge chip factory there.

Osaka’s Nishi Ward came in third, with a 19.3-percent increase. A 46-story tower condominium under construction in adjacent Fukushima Ward has an average sales price exceeding 100 million yen ($621,000) per unit.

In the surrounding area, Grand Green Osaka, a large-scale redevelopment district north of JR Osaka Station, has started, leading to increased demand for condominiums and hotels.

In the Shinsaibashi area of Osaka’s Minami district, land prices surged by more than 10 percent from the previous year’s flat level.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, vacant storefronts were noticeable in the area. But they have been filled again and are roaring back to life.

For the 39th consecutive year, the most expensive land in Japan was Ginza 5-chome in the Tokyo’s Chuo Ward. It was worth 44.24 million yen per square meter, up 3.6 percent from the previous year.

“As the country emerged thoroughly from the COVID-19 pandemic, inbound visitor numbers have recovered, and demand for housing and office space in central Tokyo is also increasing,” Kenichiro Yunome of the Urban Research Institute Corp. said.

“As long as there is no sharp rise in interest rates or modulation of the global economy, land prices will not fall,” he added.

(This article was written by Yuta Hanano and Takashi Ichida.)

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