Tag - housing

 
 

HOUSING

Pigeons — and their droppings — can be extremely difficult to manage once they settle in.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Mar 25, 2025
A new year, a new home and new unexpected guests: pigeons
They might seem harmless at first, but their droppings pose serious health risks to humans and the birds can be extremely difficult to manage once they settle in.
The Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. Tokyo police have arrested a number of suspects this month in connection with home improvement scams.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 17, 2025
Police issue warning over home improvement scams
Such scams use similar tactics to those employed by fraudsters who impersonate relatives or public agency officials over the phone to defraud victims of their money.
The building of new high-rise residential buildings has some alarmed that they could empty and fall into disrepair as Japan's population shrinks.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 24, 2025
The high cost of letting Japan's condos crumble
With rising repair costs, dwindling reserve funds and an aging population of owners, thousands of buildings are at risk of falling into disrepair.
These old houses, damaged by the January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, are set to be demolished using public funds.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2025
Home demolition applications rising in quake-hit Ishikawa
Since many of the damaged houses are traditional, picturesque buildings, concerns are rising that their demolition could impair the region's landscape and cultural value.
A worker drives past residential buildings under construction by Chinese real estate developer Vanke in Hangzhou, in eastern China's Zhejiang province. The indebted Chinese property developer warned on Monday that it incurred major losses in 2024, a filing at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 28, 2025
Rare China support shows Vanke may be too big to fail
The unusual support shows that Vanke holds a special place within China’s moribund property sector.
Marialyce Pedersen cleans burned leaves and debris that accumulated in the sink of her outdoor kitchen made of cob that survived the Eaton fire when her home burned in Altadena, California, on Jan. 20.
WORLD / Society
Jan 23, 2025
Los Angeles wildfires spark interest in adobe and natural building materials
Former homeowners determined to stay want houses that the next fire will not burn easily and that, if burnt, will not turn the soil, water and air into a toxic hazard.
John Adolph holds his son, Remy, as he stays with his friends after his home in Altadena was damaged during the Eaton Fire, in Eagle Rock, California, on Friday.
WORLD
Jan 20, 2025
Displaced by wildfires, Los Angeles' residents search for a place to live
In the wake of the wildfires, rents in Los Angeles have surged, and uncertainty over insurance settlements has left some of the displaced in limbo.
The producer price index in 2024 rose 2.3% from the previous year to 122.6, against 100 for the base year of 2020, a Bank of Japan report showed Thursday. The index was up for the fourth year in a row.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 16, 2025
Japan's producer price index hit record high in 2024
The producer price index, which measures the costs of goods traded between companies, rose 2.3% from the previous year to 122.6.
A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism official explains a new system for detecting vacant houses, on Dec. 23.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2025
Government developing AI-based system to detect vacant houses
The aim of the system is to spot such properties at an early stage and make them available for sale or rent, or demolish them before they collapse.
A man pushes a cart along Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles
WORLD / Society
Jan 4, 2025
Ahead of Trump term, U.S. cities grapple with homelessness
The crisis worsened with the end of pandemic-related aid, and are driven by a lack of affordable housing, as well as inflation and low wages.
Tokyo has the highest price-to-income ratio for high-rise condominiums in the country, at 17.78 times.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2024
New Japanese condos now cost 10 times average salary, study shows
Wages are not keeping up with rising costs, resulting in developers focusing on the higher end of the market.
A 40-year-old house in the city of Fukuoka that has been renovated by Katitas, a company that buys up secondhand houses for resale. The company retained the house's original wooden ceilings and window frames to preserve the property's vintage look.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Dec 9, 2024
As demand rises for abandoned houses, so do cases of hidden defects
Industry experts recommend prospective buyers conduct thorough inspections before concluding transactions for akiya.
A residential area of Tokyo. Rising prices has made it difficult for the child-rearing generation to secure large houses in the capital.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 7, 2024
Tokyo government considering fund for housing support
The planned fund will provide necessary financial aid for private businesses to develop affordable housing.
Elliott Investment Management's stake in Tokyo Gas is centered around getting the utility to sell off its real estate holdings, including Shinjuku Park Tower, which houses the Park Hyatt Hotel Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2024
Real estate worth ¥25 trillion puts Japan companies in spotlight
The hidden value of property on corporate balance sheets is a theme behind some of the biggest activist campaigns and mergers and acquisitions in Japan.
Masaaki Iene (left) watches as an architect from a local support center checks the level of damage at his house in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Oct. 15 to see whether previous assessments carried out by local government officials were appropriate.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 4, 2024
Noto quake-hit areas question home damage assessments
Many have noted inconsistencies in assessments and discrepancies between the results and the actual situations.
High construction costs due to rising material and labor costs continue to push up sales prices of new condominiums.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 22, 2024
Tokyo-area condo price hits new high in first half of fiscal 2024
The average price in the area, which includes Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, rose 1.5% from ¥78.36 million a year earlier.
A condo complex in Tokyo
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2024
Japan's land ministry eyes bill to prevent overpriced condo repairs
The ministry plans to impose supervisory penalties on companies that are found to be in violation of the rules.
A customer shops for tomatoes at the vegetable section of a supermarket in Beijing on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 18, 2024
China's third-quarter GDP hits weakest pace since early 2023
Authorities have sharply ramped up policy stimulus, but markets are waiting for a clearer road map to put the economy back on a solid longer-term footing.
The average price of new condos in Tokyo's 23 wards in the first half of this year stayed over ¥100 million and a notable wave of price increases was observed in urban areas surrounding Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2024
Tokyo area condo prices remain sky-high
The average price of new condos in central Tokyo's densely populated 23 wards stood at ¥108.55 million in the first half of this year.
Factory activity in China contracted for a fourth straight month in August, with subindexes showing deepening deflationary pressures.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2024
China faces calls for stimulus as growth engines stall amid property woes
Factory activity contracted for a fourth month in August, with subindexes showing deflationary pressures and latest sales figures showing a worsening residential slump.

Longform

The sun shines from behind a waving Philippine flag at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
Eighty years after the Battle of Manila, old foes forge new ties