Japan real estate market — prices, rental yield and trend
- Average price: $5,377 / m²
- Gross rental yield: 4.34%
- 12-month price change (USD): -3.3%
- Transaction cost: 10.9%
- Price basis: capital average
Residential property in Japan averages $5,377 per square metre — -3.3% in dollar terms over twelve months, so a dollar buyer pays less than a year ago. That makes it the 21st most expensive of the 70 markets in the set. In local currency the same twelve months read +8%; the 11.3-point gap is the exchange rate, not the housing market.
What a buyer pays in Japan
The $5,377 figure is an average for the capital: it describes the capital's market, not the country as a whole — most of the country trades well below it. Buying costs — transfer tax or stamp duty, notary, registration and agency — come to about 10.9% of the price here. On a 100 m² apartment at the average price that is roughly $58,609 on top of the $537,700 purchase price. That is above the 9.5% median across the set — the entry cost is part of the investment case here. Inside Japan we also track Tokyo separately, where the average is $11,134 — 107.1% above the national figure.
What it earns
Long-term letting returns about 4.3% gross on the purchase price, 55th of 69 markets by gross yield. Measured against local earnings, the price-to-income ratio is 11.6 — that is how many years of an average local income one average home costs, and it says more about who can buy here than any price figure does.
How this figure is built
The price figure for Japan comes from the source we judge most reliable for this market. It was last refreshed on 2026-07-23. We rate our confidence in this market’s data high: the underlying series is official and current. We recompute every market the same way; a figure that fails our checks is suppressed, not guessed.
Sources: GPG yields · globalpropertyguide.com · media.ina-gr.com · numbeo.com. Snapshot: 2026-07-23.
Latest Japan market analysis
- Tokyo New Detached House Prices Hit a Post-2014 High in August — 2026-09-12
- Japan's Core Inflation Hit 1.8% in July, Pushing the Bank of Japan Toward 1.25% — 2026-08-23
- Greater Tokyo's Average New Condo Price Jumped 63.7% in July to a Record ¥164.93 Million — 2026-08-22
- Tokyo Used-Condo Sales Fell for a Fourth Month in July as Resale Prices Turn Negative — 2026-08-11
Related markets: Tokyo