Hey mate, yup, still here.

The Aussie loans available are not really mortgages, just equity pulling for whatever purpose, at whatever rates your bank provides, secured against whatever property you may have cleared in Aus.

We’re now in touch with a Singapore broker who can facilitate loans from Japanese lenders, at around 3-3.5%, 60-70% LTV, secured against the Japanese property. The minimum for those are 20 mil JPY (around 250k AUD or so), if you’re interested – they’re called GMG Asia, if you msg me with your email address I’ll put you in touch with their rep in charge of Japan. You’ll have to incorporate in Japan though, which is a few thousand bucks, they charge 1,500 USD setup if the loan can be granted, and the lender another 2% of the loan amount.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by  Ziv Nakajima-Magen.

Very true, as part of the insane QE measures announced here over 5 years ago to try and kick start growth again (which has been successful to some degree), official negative interest rates have been installed – which translate into 1.5-2.5% mortgages.

Unfortunately that’s still not available to anyone who’s a non resident, with some rare exceptions (Bank of China might lend to you if you’re fluent in Japanese or Chinese, and can live with a minimum of about 340,000 AUD per single property, at 50% LTV…)

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by  Ziv Nakajima-Magen.

Thanks, Richard. Interesting – our Aussie clients seem to be happy with 7-8% net pre-tax rental yields on their direct property investments, which present them with a far more hands-on experience and hassle – I would assume to get 5-6% with zero involvement would be attractive – still higher than term deposits and typical Australian property cashflow, not to mention far more affordable?

It is true that USA, Europe, Singapore based investors etc are happier with even lower returns though…

Hi, folks – just a heads-up, if you happen to be around SE-QLD or NNSW on August 6th – going to utilise a well deserved family holiday to talk shop with some local investors interested in Japan’s property market – Seminar -Japan Real-Estate for Foreign Investors

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by  Ziv Nakajima-Magen.

Cheers, Shehan, glad you’re enjoying it! If you’re new to international investing, I recommend these articles – most of them aren’t Japan specific, very beginner oriented, and just lay down best practices for any investment destination, including some tips on how to choose where to invest, as well.

Cheers, mate!

Japan Real Estate Property Investment Market – 2016 Summary & 2017 Predictions From Industry Leaders

Main Takeaways –

1. Slow growth is expected to continue in 2017 although there are still pockets of opportunities, particularly in hospitality, logistics and Tier 2 cities.

2. Main cities such as Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya have registered slight price rises of 0.4-2%. Other hotspots such as Fukuoka city, the country’s western capital and gateway to Southeast Asia sees a similar trend.

3. Institutional funds and other large scale investors are still more than satisfied with current yield levels, as even these compressed yields offer a far higher return in comparison to their previous portfolio allocations. There just don’t seem to be too many risk-free alternatives globally

4. Hotels and other hospitality venues continue to attract increasing numbers of international tourists in the lead-up to the 2020 Olympics. This trend is further strengthened by official policies aimed at strengthening the country’s global investment destination status.

5. Senior assisted living may prove to be the next innovative investment strategy, although attractive models for profitable investment have yet to be created in this sector.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by  Ziv Nakajima-Magen.

Hi, Ivan. Hope you enjoyed your stay – which cities are you referring to, and what do you mean by “dire”?

Certainly, Japan isn’t a growth oriented environment – the population is shrinking/ageing fast,and the economy is struggling to break out of two and some decades of deflation. There are several ways in which many are believing this trend could be reversed,but the current administration seems far too entrenched in old-skool, nationalistic and traditional ways of thinking to make this happen. Until immigration and female work force participation and general satisfaction are tackled, the population (and economy with it) is not likely to stabilize, let alone grow significantly.

However (and this is a big however) –

1. The last four years have seen property prices finally rising in all big cities (in some, such as Tokyo and Fukuoka more than in others) – and considering the up and coming 2020 Olympics, will most likely continue to do so at least until then. Last month actually marked the first time prices have been rising nation-wide, as more and more medium cities and townships join the fray. While this doesn’t turn the country into a capital growth market, not by a longshot, it means that those who have entered the market in Tokyo and Fukuoka in the last four years have gained significantly (in the lower brackets, which we normally deal in, practically doubled or more in the most central areas), and those who are still entering slower growth markets (such as Sapporo, Nagoya and Kyoto) are likely to enjoy the same effect in the short term at least.

2. Small villages and townships which are slowly dying out due to the ageing/declining population issue, are conglomerating into the bigger metropolitan centres, which are actually growing (again, some more than others), and will most likely continue to do so in the next decade or two at the very least (check out that table at the end of the article linked to above for a list of growing population areas – plenty to be had, and Tokyo isn’t even on top of that list).

3. Perhaps most importantly, Japan isn’t, in our opinion at least, a growth oriented environment. People who invest here diversify their portfolio from speculative, growth oriented locations such as Australia and Singapore, which normally offer very low cashflow, and hedge their portfolio with affordable, high yield properties in Japan, (mostly condos – the last Australian townhouse I liquidated in one of Melbourne’s prime suburbs got me about 12 of these here, all at double the monthly yield or more) which offers some of the developed world’s highest monthly rental returns, coupled with the world’s most docile and hassle-free tenants and business environment.

Here’s a more detailed explanation – Q&A – Japan’s Debt & Demographic Issues

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by  Ziv Nakajima-Magen.

Updated our 2016 Japan real estate property investment strategy. The full info can be found here – Japan Property Purchase Guide – but here are the main takeaways –

1. Fukuoka’s market, which is still one of the hottest in the country, and has been enjoying constantly increasing interest from foreign investors, is now too hot for its’ own good – as a result, yields are now compressed and approaching Tokyo/Osaka levels of 6% net pre-tax at most – still an attractive market, but down to secondary tier.

2. Sapporo’s market (Japan’s 5th largest city), while increasing in price over the last two years, has done so quite slowly and, although transaction speeds are very fast and properties often get snatched in a matter of days (sometimes even hours) of listing, it still provides very high yields of up to 11% net pre-tax quite regularly, with 9% being the average.

3. Other attractive cities providing 7-9% on a regular basis are Kyoto, Kawasaki, Yokohama, Nagoya (which is going through a redevelopment boom these days, so will probably experience at least a slight price rise in the coming year or two), and a host of smaller, attractive profile towns with stable or rising population figures.

4. Tokyo, Osaka, Niseko (on the Hokkaido ski slopes) and Okinawa remain far too foreigner-saturated and internationally renown to provide any significant yields – strictly a speculative capital appreciation play which, in our experience, may backfire if the economy and re-inflation attempts continue to stall in the years leading to the 2020 Olympics (and definitely beyond that, which is bound to be at least a slight slump).

• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by  Ziv Nakajima-Magen.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by  Ziv Nakajima-Magen.