Japan Property Brokers Taking Business to Hong Kong Wealthy Share - TopicsExpress

Japan Property Brokers Taking Business to Hong Kong Wealthy Share the post Japan Property Brokers Taking Business to Hong Kong Wealthy 6 Oct, 2014 - Japanese property brokerages Tokyu Livable and Nomura Real Estate Urban Net will move into Hong Kong this month. They see yen’s continued weakening under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe since December 2012 as a grand opportunity to attract overseas investment. The yen’s value has dropped 40% against the dollar over the past three years, resulting in Japanese buildings becoming cheaper for overseas investors. In Hong Kong, where political turmoil continues, wealthy Chinese are increasingly investing in assets outside the country. U.S. real estate strategy firm JLL says some 1.25 trillion yen ($11.4 billion) in overseas money was invested in office and commercial properties in Japan during the January-March quarter, a 28.5% increase on the year. Tokyo received more of this investment than any other city in the world. Buildings that house Japanese-style fast food chains and convenience stores are particularly popular among overseas investors. Investment amounts vary widely from tens of millions of yen to 5 billion yen per case. “Property prices are soaring in Hong Kong and yields are declining,” says Toru Fujita, a senior official at Nomura Real Estate Urban Net. Meanwhile, office building yields in Tokyo are 1.5 percentage points higher than those in Hong Kong. Pacific Century Place Marunouchi, a large building located in front of Tokyo Station, is reportedly the subject of an acquisition offer from overseas. Tokyu Livable is seeing a surge in the number of inquiries it receives from Taiwanese and other nationalities who want to buy property in Japan. That prompted the company to employ an international member of staff who speaks Chinese for its Tokyo headquarters in September. The employee will deal with wealthy clients referred by the company’s Hong Kong office, which is scheduled to open soon. The headquarters only had one employee who could speak Chinese three years ago, but the number of Chinese speaker has risen to six as of Oct. 1. Tokyu Livable established a subsidiary in Shanghai in 2012. On Oct. 3, the company gained the chance to receive approval for the establishment of a Hong Kong office. Nomura Real Estate Urban Net will also open an office in Hong Kong later this month. It will be the first overseas expansion for the company. Both companies’ Hong Kong offices will handle wealthy customers with assets of over 100 million yen. They will introduce Japanese investment properties to such clients before inviting them to Japan to sign a deal. (Source – “Asia Nikkei” Pic-Japan Flag / Urawa’s Photo Stream) Share the post Japan Property Brokers Taking Business to Hong Kong Wealthy