Despite being one of the world’s largest and most prosperous cities, the Japanese capital has historically lacked the glamorous apartments at the very top of the market that are seen in Hong Kong, London or New York.

However, in 2017, it was rumoured that a penthouse of Park Mansion Hinokicho Koen was sold for ¥5.5bn, a previously-unheard of price in Japan. Since then, the number of ultra-luxury apartments has grown.

Tetsuya Kaneko, head of research and consultancy at Savills Japan says: “Until quite recently there were probably fewer than ten units fitting our ultra-luxury definition, namely those with a sale price exceeding ‎¥‎1bn ($9m).”

He estimates there are now 20-30 units in Tokyo which fit the ‘ultra-luxury’ bracket but also reckons this number will double over the next few years. There are new developments which will feature apartments with a rare level of luxury; Mori Building’s Toranomon Residential Tower could have a penthouse which will retail at more than ¥10bn.

Tokyo’s ultra-luxury condos are concentrated in the Minato district, especially in the Aoyama, Akasaka, and Roppongi areas where a large number of embassies, international businesses, high-end stores and restaurants are situated.

Tokyo has always had the wealth to support such apartments; it has around 7,000 people with a net worth in excess of $30m. Recently, the city has been on a high, as Japan has emerged from its long years of recession. Tokyo is also seeing a wave of infrastructure upgrades and new developments in advance of the 2020 Olympics.

Record numbers of visitors are arriving, some of whom – especially those from China, Hong Kong and Singapore – are potential buyers of high-end real estate. Compared with Hong Kong, even Tokyo’s most expensive apartments seem reasonably priced.

Further reading:
Savills Japan Residential Research

Contact us:
Tetsuya Kaneko