How Easy Is It to Resell Japanese Property? City, Age, Buyers

This article in the Zagdim wiki’s Japan property series answers one question: how easy it will be to sell a second-hand home in Japan later, and what official statistics can and cannot tell you. It is written for people who already own property in Japan, or who are comparing properties and want to see the exit route first. For the sale process, taxes and remittance, see the main article, “Plan Your Exit Before You Buy Japanese Property” (internal link in notes).

As of September 2026, no official statistic tells you how long a particular second-hand home in Japan will take to sell, or how far the sale price will fall below the asking price. What the statistics do show is the overall differences. Within the Tokyo metropolitan area (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba), unit prices in Tokyo’s 23 wards and in Saitama and Chiba moved in different directions. For apartments 31 years old or more, the ratio of contracts closed to new listings is about 20%, lower than the roughly 40% for apartments 11 to 15 years old. And in Tokyo, Osaka City, Fukuoka City and Sapporo City, where the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) lists figures, buyers with a registered address overseas make up 2.5% to 5.6% of second-hand apartment buyers. Whether a tenant in the property affects how easily it sells cannot be answered: none of the official statistics checked for this article separate sales by lease status.

Why Is “Easy to Sell?” Hard to Answer in One Sentence?

You may see both “Japan’s property price index hits a record” and “9 million empty homes nationwide”. Both are official figures, but they measure different things over different scopes.

Before reading any figure, check who published it, what it measures and which transactions it covers:

How Big Is Japan’s Second-Hand Housing Market?

Japan records several hundred thousand building sale registrations each year. In 2025 there were 389,437 registrations of ownership transfer of buildings by sale, covering 800,166 buildings (each apartment unit counts as one building), and 1,295,215 for land. These figures include corporations, non-residential property and new and old buildings, so they give only a sense of scale and are not the volume of second-hand home sales.

MLIT data currently gives two ways to calculate the share of second-hand homes in housing distribution, and the results differ widely:

• Using the Housing and Land Survey and the housing starts statistics (住宅着工統計), second-hand homes were about 14.5% of all housing distribution in 2018.
• Using the existing housing sales volume index and housing starts statistics (new construction = custom-built homes, detached homes for sale and condominiums for sale), second-hand homes were 40.4% in 2023 and 30.8% in 2013.

The two figures cannot be compared with each other, and whichever one you quote, quote the method with it.

The volume of second-hand homes bought by individuals can be seen in the existing housing sales volume index. For June 2026 (published by MLIT on September 30, 2026), the national total was 131.3 and condominiums 130.3. Excluding studios under 30 square meters, condominiums were only 105.3. MLIT explains that, because individual purchases of units under 30 square meters have increased, condominiums are now published both with and without them. If your property is a studio, you are looking at a different set of numbers from a family-type apartment.

For second-hand apartments in the Tokyo area, about 49,000 sold on REINS in 2025, and the statistics body cautions that the system revision from 2025 may affect the count. For the overall picture, see the main article (internal link in notes).

How Much Does the City Matter?

Even within one metropolitan area, the gaps are clear. The 2025 data for second-hand apartment sales in the Tokyo area from the East Japan Real Estate Information Network (東日本レインズ) is as follows:

• Tokyo’s 23 wards: 21,912 sales, JPY 1.3075 million per square meter, up 13.2% on the previous year; average price JPY 74.01 million; average building age 25.06 years.
• Tama: 4,527 sales, JPY 555,100 per square meter.
• Yokohama and Kawasaki: 8,298 sales, JPY 647,200 per square meter.
• Saitama Prefecture: 5,628 sales, JPY 431,900 per square meter, down 1.3%.
• Chiba Prefecture: 5,377 sales, JPY 398,400 per square meter, down 1.3%.

The organization’s explanation is that the rise in unit prices in Tokyo’s 23 wards widened to double digits, the rise in Tama and Yokohama and Kawasaki narrowed to a slight increase, and Saitama, Chiba and the rest of Kanagawa turned to declines. This describes the single year 2025, not what came after.

Outside the Tokyo area, what REINS currently shows is monthly data by prefecture. In August 2026, Osaka Prefecture had 753 second-hand apartment sales and 11,720 at month-end; Kochi Prefecture had 7 sales and 127 in stock, and Akita Prefecture 1 sale and 97 in stock (four distribution organizations combined). The monthly sample in regional prefectures is very small, and only properties listed on REINS are counted, so a low count does not mean no transactions. Figures for other prefectures are in the main article.

The index cannot be used to compare regions. As of December 2025, the condominium price index was 291.5 for the Hokkaido region, 275.9 for Kyushu and Okinawa, and 234.8 for Tokyo (2010 average = 100). This only means that Hokkaido has risen more relative to its own 2010 level. It does not mean Hokkaido condominiums are more expensive than Tokyo’s or easier to sell. MLIT has announced that the index from January 2026 onward is delayed, with no new date set.

The regional figures of the existing housing sales volume index are read the same way. For June 2026 the condominium index (including / excluding units under 30 square meters) was 149.3 / 104.7 for Tokyo, 162.3 / 99.6 for Osaka Prefecture, 189.1 / 131.7 for Aichi Prefecture and 90.8 / 79.1 for the Hokuriku region. Each is compared with its own 2010 level, and none shows which place has more sales.

Vacant homes and population are background only:

• In 2023, vacant homes (空き家) nationwide were 9.002 million and the vacancy rate 13.8%, both record highs. Vacancy rates by area: Tokyo 10.9%, Okinawa 9.4%, Fukuoka 12.4%, Osaka 14.2%, Hokkaido 15.6%, Wakayama 21.2% and Tokushima 21.3%. These are sample-based estimates, and a high vacancy rate does not show that a particular home will not sell.
• In the projections of the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (2023 estimate), with 2020 as 100, only Tokyo is above 100 in 2050 (102.5), and Akita Prefecture is 58.4. In 11 prefectures, including Akita, Aomori and Kochi, the 2050 population is more than 30% below 2020. These are estimates under set assumptions. This article uses them only as background showing that conditions differ by region, not to infer prices or sales.

**Example: Mr. Chang, living in Kaohsiung**

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Mr. Chang owns a 33-year-old apartment in Saitama Prefecture and wants to know how easy it will be to sell later. In 2025 the unit price of second-hand apartments in Saitama was JPY 431,900 per square meter, down 1.3% on the previous year, and the ratio of “contracts closed / new listings” for apartments 31 to 35 years old in the Tokyo area was 19.6%.

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One of these figures is an average for the whole of Saitama and the other is for an age band across the whole Tokyo area, so neither is a forecast for his unit. What he needs to do: ask an agent to explain the appraisal using comparable sales in Saitama of similar age and size, and gather the repair and inspection records for the apartment.

Are Older Buildings Harder to Sell?

Older apartments do sell, but the ratio of contracts to new listings is lower. For second-hand apartments sold in the Tokyo area in 2025, the average building age was 26.58 years, against 30.08 years for new listings, and 60.3% of sales were buildings more than 20 years old.

The East Japan Real Estate Information Network looks at each age band using “contracts closed / new listings in the same year”, called the contract rate against new listings (対新規登録成約率). For second-hand apartments in the Tokyo area in 2025:

• Age 0 to 5 years: 33.4% (31.9% in 2024)
• Age 11 to 15 years: 40.9%, the highest of all age bands (36.2% in 2024)
• Age 26 to 30 years: 26.2% (16.6% in 2024)
• Age 31 to 35 years: 19.6% (11.6% in 2024)
• Age 36 to 40 years: 17.4% (11.1% in 2024)
• Age 41 years and over: 20.9% (13.2% in 2024)

This ratio compares two counts from the same year. It is not the probability of selling after listing and it is not a number of days, and the same property may also be listed more than once. In 2025 every age band was higher than in 2024, which may be partly an effect of the system revision, so it should not be read as “old apartments have become easier to sell”. The ratio for second-hand detached houses is also highest at 11 to 15 years old, at 33.2%. The organization also notes that properties 25 years old or less make up a larger share of sales than of new listings, and interprets this as higher demand.

On sale prices, the 2025 average price of second-hand apartments in the Tokyo area by building age was:

• Age 0 to 5 years: JPY 86.66 million (JPY 1.4364 million per square meter)
• Age 11 to 15 years: JPY 73.35 million (JPY 1.1411 million)
• Age 21 to 25 years: JPY 60.75 million (JPY 861,000)
• Age 26 to 30 years: JPY 42.86 million (JPY 644,500)
• Age 31 to 35 years: JPY 26.38 million (JPY 441,400)
• Age 41 years and over: JPY 25.58 million (JPY 475,000)

These are averages of different-age properties in the same year, with different locations, sizes and construction specifications, so they do not show how much one home falls each year. That the unit price at 41 years and over is slightly higher than at 31 to 35 years also shows that price does not simply decline with age. For second-hand detached houses, sale prices for buildings up to 5 years old were in the JPY 50 million range, and above 35 years in the JPY 20 million range.

For an older property, it helps to organize repair and inspection records first. Since April 1, 2018, when an existing building is sold, the agent must state in the explanation of important matters whether a building condition inspection (建物状況調査, limited to inspections done within the prescribed period) was carried out and a summary of the results, and how documents such as design drawings and inspection records are kept. The authorities do not say that having an inspection makes a sale faster or at a higher price. But if an inspection was done and records were kept, there is material to explain in the important matters explanation.

Can the Statistics Show Whether a Tenanted Property Is Easy to Sell?

No. As of September 2026, none of the official statistics and REINS statistics checked for this article separate contract counts, days to sell or prices by whether there is a tenant. So there is currently no statistic that supports either “a property with a tenant is harder to sell” or “easier to sell”.

What can be stated is the legal position: a lease under which the tenant has already moved in remains valid against the buyer after the sale, and the buyer becomes the new landlord without needing the tenant’s consent. For tenant rights, whether the lease is ordinary or fixed-term, how the deposit is handled and what buyers look at, see the related article “How to Sell Japanese Property With a Lease in Place” (internal link in notes).

The only official rental-related figures concern vacant rental homes: in 2023, vacant homes for rent nationwide were 4.436 million, and rental homes made up 78.5% (3.947 million) of vacant homes in apartment buildings. This describes how many rental homes stand empty, not sales of properties with leases.

Who Buys Second-Hand Apartments in Japan? Are There Many Overseas Buyers?

In the cities with statistics, buyers of second-hand apartments are mainly people with a registered address in Japan. MLIT’s analysis of registration data shows that in 2025 the share of second-hand apartment acquisitions by buyers with a registered address overseas was:

• Tokyo 2.5%, Tokyo’s 23 wards 2.7%, the six central wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, Bunkyo, Shibuya) 5.6%
• Osaka City 4.4%, Fukuoka City 4.8%, Sapporo City 2.5%

For new apartments in the same year the shares were similar: Tokyo 2.5%, Tokyo’s 23 wards 2.8%, the six central wards 5.9%. MLIT states that it has not seen a particular recent increase in acquisitions of second-hand apartments by overseas-address buyers, and that the share for second-hand apartments in Tokyo’s 23 wards has moved within the range of 1% to 3%.

As for which countries and regions the overseas-address buyers are registered in: for second-hand apartments in Tokyo’s 23 wards, China used to account for nearly half, and Taiwan has also increased in recent years; for new apartments, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan have been the most common since before the pandemic, with Taiwan the largest in recent years. Separately, buyers presumed to be foreign nationals by name, according to the Cabinet Secretariat, accounted for 11.9% of apartment transactions in the six central wards in 2025 (new and second-hand combined, down from the previous year). This is presumed from names, and MLIT also explains that the current system cannot determine nationality.

“Overseas address” refers to the registered address, not nationality. Foreign residents living in Japan, and overseas people who buy through a Japanese company, are not counted. These figures only show who bought. They do not mean that selling to buyers from Taiwan or Hong Kong is easier, and there is no official statistic on sellers living overseas.

**Example: Ms. Ho, living in Hong Kong**

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Ms. Ho owns an apartment in Fukuoka City and is thinking of eventually selling to a buyer from Hong Kong or Taiwan. In 2025, 4.8% of second-hand apartment buyers in Fukuoka City had a registered address overseas, and in August 2026 Fukuoka Prefecture had 252 second-hand apartment sales on REINS and 6,061 in stock at month-end.

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These figures describe the makeup of buyers and the sample size for a single month, not whether her unit can be sold to an overseas buyer. What she needs to do: not plan the sale on the assumption of an overseas buyer, and ask an agent to explain comparable sales of similar properties in Fukuoka City.

How Should You Read What You Hear?

• “The asking price is higher than the sale price, and the gap is the room to negotiate”: in 2025, new listings in Tokyo’s 23 wards had a unit price of JPY 1.5944 million per square meter against a sale unit price of JPY 1.3075 million. These are averages of different groups of properties, so the gap is not negotiating room. The authorities have no statistic on the negotiation rate.
• “Sales are down 10% from the same month last year, so the market is weakening”: in August 2026, second-hand apartment sales in the Tokyo area were down 10.5% from the same month a year earlier, but the same month the previous year was unusually high and the system revision may also affect counts, so a single month’s change should not be read alone.
• “Hokkaido’s index is higher than Tokyo’s, so it must sell more easily”: the price index compares each region with its own 2010 level and cannot be used to compare prices or ease of sale between regions.
• “A 20% contract rate means 20% sell after listing”: the contract rate is sales divided by new listings in the same year. It is not a probability and not a number of days.
• “Where the population is falling, homes will not sell”: population projections and vacancy rates are regional background and cannot be used to infer the sale result of one property.
• “Overseas buyers are increasing”: for second-hand apartments, MLIT says it has not seen a particular recent increase in buyers with an overseas address.

What Should You Do Next to Judge Your Own Property?

Statistics can only help you find the group of figures your property belongs to. The real sale conditions depend on that particular property. You can work through these steps in order:

1. Match your location: in the Tokyo area, look at your area and building-age band. Outside the Tokyo area, the statistics checked here offer monthly prefecture data, so you can look at sales and stock in the same prefecture, remembering that it is a single month and only REINS properties.
2. Match your size: studios under 30 square meters and family-type apartments are covered by different sales volume figures.
3. Ask the agent to explain the appraisal basis: by law, an agent giving an opinion on the sale price must state the basis, such as comparable sales. You can also look at contract price information in MLIT’s Real Estate Information Library (不動産情報ライブラリ). For the steps of a sale, see the related article “How to Sell Japanese Property” (internal link in notes).
4. Organize your property records: the explanation of important matters must state how design drawings and inspection records are kept, and repair records can be organized at the same time.
5. If there is a tenant, look at the legal side first: see “Selling With a Lease in Place” (internal link in notes); for tax after a sale and sending funds out, see the articles on sale taxes and on remittance (internal links in notes).

If a property involves a regional city, a higher building age or a tenant at the same time, which figures to consult depends on the individual conditions.

Japan Second-Hand Property Resale FAQ

How long does it take to sell second-hand property in Japan after listing?

Neither the official statistics nor the distribution organizations’ statistics give an average number of days to sell. REINS’s contract rate against new listings is the ratio of contracts to new listings in the same year, and is not the probability of selling or a number of days. The actual time depends on the individual property and the price.

Is a Japanese property with a tenant harder to sell?

There is currently no official statistic that separates contract counts, days or prices by whether there is a tenant, so the question cannot be answered with statistics. Legally, a property can be sold with the tenant in place, the buyer takes over the lease and the tenant’s consent is not needed; for details see the article on selling with a lease.

Is it easier to sell to buyers from Taiwan or Hong Kong?

The statistics cannot show this. In 2025, 2.7% of second-hand apartment buyers in Tokyo’s 23 wards had a registered address overseas, 4.4% in Osaka City and 4.8% in Fukuoka City, and MLIT says there has been no particular recent increase. This measures address, not nationality.

Glossary

• Designated distribution organization (指定流通機構): a public interest corporation designated by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism under the Real Estate Brokerage Act, running the REINS system where agents list properties; the national statistics are compiled jointly by 4 organizations.
• REINS (レインズ): the online system where agents register properties for sale and sale data; its statistics cover only the properties listed on it.
• New listing (新規登録): a property for sale newly registered on REINS in the period.
• Contract rate against new listings (対新規登録成約率): sales in a year divided by new listings in the same year.
• Stock (在庫): properties still listed and for sale at month-end.
• Real estate price index (不動産価格指数): MLIT’s index with the 2010 average as 100, showing each region’s price change relative to itself.
• Existing housing sales volume index (既存住宅販売量指数): MLIT’s registration-based index of second-hand homes bought by individuals, currently in trial operation.
• Overseas-address buyer: a buyer whose registered address is overseas; not a classification by nationality.
• Building condition inspection (建物状況調査): an inspection of the condition of an existing building; at sale, the agent must state in the explanation of important matters whether one was done.

Data Notes

• The information in this article was checked as of September 30, 2026. It is based on official statistics and documents of MLIT, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Cabinet Secretariat and the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, and on Japanese laws. The Japanese originals were translated and organized by Zagdim.
• Contract counts, sale prices, building ages and stock come from designated distribution organizations such as the East Japan Real Estate Information Network. They are public interest corporations designated by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, not government ministries. The data covers only properties listed on REINS by member agents, not all transactions, and the system revision from January 2025 may affect contract counts. A building-age breakdown for areas outside the Tokyo area was not found in a comparable public report.
• The following conclusion is drawn from official documents, not stated in a single sentence by the authorities: that the share of second-hand homes in housing distribution has two calculations, about 14.5% and 40.4%, which cannot be compared with each other, is summarized from the calculation notes in two MLIT council documents (neither dated).
• “No statistic separates sales by whether there is a tenant” and “no statistics on days to sell, negotiation rate or the overseas address of sellers” refer to the official and REINS public statistics checked for this article.
• The share of overseas-address buyers is an MLIT analysis of registration data, covering only the three major metropolitan areas and four regional cities (Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka); the share of buyers presumed to be foreign nationals is presumed from names, not nationality. Population projections are estimates under set assumptions.
• Things that may change: the property price index from January 2026 onward has been postponed (announced September 28, 2026, new date not set), and this article goes up to December 2025; the existing housing sales volume index is still in trial operation; REINS monthly data is updated monthly, and this article goes up to August 2026.

Have a question about this guide? Leave a comment below, or ask Zagdim directly.

Sources

• 国土交通省－不動産価格指数
• 国土交通省－不動産価格指数（令和７年１２月・令和７年第４四半期分）
• 国土交通省－不動産価格指数（住宅）の作成方法
• 国土交通省－既存住宅販売量指数 令和８年６月分を公表（試験運用）
• 法務省－登記統計 年報2025年（e-Stat）
• 国土交通省－社会資本整備審議会 資料４「関連データ等について」
• 国土交通省－社会資本整備審議会住宅宅地分科会 資料８「ストック社会における住宅・住環境・市場のあり方について」
• 東日本不動産流通機構－首都圏不動産流通市場の動向（2025年）
• 東日本不動産流通機構－築年数から見た首都圏の不動産流通市場（2025年）
• 東日本不動産流通機構－月例速報 Market Watch サマリーレポート 2026年8月度
• 東日本・中部圏・近畿圏・西日本不動産流通機構－月例速報 Market Watch〔全国版〕2026年8月度
• 総務省統計局－令和5年住宅・土地統計調査 住宅及び世帯に関する基本集計（確報集計）結果
• 国立社会保障・人口問題研究所－日本の地域別将来推計人口（令和5（2023）年推計）結果の概要
• 国土交通省－不動産登記情報を活用した新築マンションの取引実態の調査・分析について（別紙）
• 内閣官房－外国人等による我が国の土地・建物の所有・取得状況の全体像
• 国土交通省－改正宅地建物取引業法の施行について
• e-Gov法令検索－宅地建物取引業法
• 国土交通省－＜消費者の皆様向け＞不動産取引に関するお知らせ
• e-Gov法令検索－民法
• e-Gov法令検索－借地借家法

Important Notice

This article is a general information summary and does not constitute individual investment, legal or tax advice, nor a forecast of the sale price or time for any property. Information was checked as of September 30, 2026. Statistics are updated regularly, so rely on the latest announcements of each publisher, and consult a qualified professional where needed.