Onigiri · No. 6
Bite-size Japan real estate
No residency or citizenship needed to own in Japan.
Think buying property in Japan is a red-tape nightmare? Think again. Let's snack.
Foreigners can own Japanese property outright. Japan has NO restrictions on foreigners buying: full freehold ownership of land and building, no residency, visa, or citizenship requirement. The real hurdle? Getting a mortgage, since most banks require a local sponsor or permanent residency. Many foreign buyers simply pay cash.
The takeaway: foreign buyers, bring your checkbook, not your passport.
A real-estate agent's commission in Japan is capped by law at 3% of the price + ¥60,000 + consumption tax for properties over ¥4M. Both buyer and seller typically pay this fee. For low-priced rural properties, agents may charge a fixed fee up to ¥330,000 under a 2024 rule revision.
The takeaway: know your fees, dodge surprises.
Since 2019, used-condo prices have climbed across Japan's big cities. Kobe takes the gold, with prices up 1.63×, while Sapporo trails with a 1.22× increase. Other cities like Osaka City and Fukuoka City are also climbing, but not as fast.
The takeaway: kobe's condos are heating up; keep an eye on the market.
By the numbers
Sources: Japan Property Research live listings crawl (1M+ listings, updated weekly) and 5.8M MLIT transaction-price records (不動産取引価格情報). Weekly figures cover the last full Mon–Sun week; structural figures are medians with a minimum 80 sales per segment; latest year preliminary.
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