Tokyo apartment prices reach record high for third straight year

The prices of new condos in Tokyo jumped to a record high for the third straight year in 2023, driven by low supply and rising building costs.

The average price of a new apartment for sale in the Greater Tokyo area surged 29% to a fresh high of ¥81 million ($548,000), according to the Real Estate Economic Institute, which has been tracking the data since 1973.

New condo values have now risen for five years in a row. They will probably keep climbing in 2024 even as the economy slows and the Bank of Japan looks to abandon its long-standing negative interest-rate policy that made home loans cheaper, analysts have said.