Foreign Investment in Japanese Real Estate up 230% in 2006

May 19, 2007
By Ken Worsley

I haven’t seen anything in the English news yet, but the Nikkei reported in Friday’s evening edition that investment in Japanese real estate by foreign investors more than tripled in 2006, reaching $13 billion worth of property. The data was released in a report done by Jones Lang LaSalle.

American and Australian investment funds led the charge, with foreign investors on the buying end of a whopping 25% of all real estate transactions done in Japan in 2006.

Last year, the total value of real estate scooped up by foreign investors in the Asia-Pacific region soared 58% to $30 billion. 43% of those purchases were conducted in Japan.

LaSalle indicated that as far as Japan goes, continued low interest rates as well as expectations of high future returns spurred the splurge.

Filed Under Barbarians at the Gate, Hedge Funds, Real Estate