Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), one of the nation’s leading property sales agencies, on Saturday said that the weakness of the yen has not only attracted Taiwanese travelers, but also potential home buyers who are eager to take advantage of foreign exchange gains.
Kenny Ho (何偉宏), head of the company’s Japanese subsidiary, said that many Taiwanese traveling to Tokyo are seeking property investment instruments in the Japanese capital in light of the yen’s recent plunge against the greenback.
With the Bank of Japan launching a US Federal Reserve-style quantitative easing program, the yen has been trending lower against the currencies of its major trading partners. Since the beginning of last year, the Japanese currency has dropped more than 17 percent against the US dollar, and many Taiwanese consumers have found that not only travel to Japan, but also a wide range of products, including property, have become more affordable.
Ho cited statistics compiled by Sinyi Realty as saying that about 100 Taiwanese visitors per month went to his Tokyo outlet in the first half of this year asking for information about the city’s property market.
Those monthly visits in the first half of the year marked a 10 percent rise from a year earlier, he said, adding that the number is expected to rise further over the summer.
After the Japanese government launched a series of stimulus measures, the job market and private consumption in the country have shown signs of improving, withmore young Japanese moving to downtown Tokyo, which has boosted the property market in the city, Ho said.
This has led a lot of property investors to target homes in downtown Tokyo as potential purchases that could see a higher return, the broker said.
The Tokyo government has also been pushing for urban renewal projects, so many of the districts that Taiwanese are familiar with, such as Ginza, are launching large-scale property development projects to stimulate buying interest, he said.
Ho said that that he prefers properties in Shinagawa, which is close to Haneda Airport, because the district has many transportation options.
Homes located in Shinagawa are favored by young people and smaller families, he said.
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