Rents soar in northern Okinawa ahead of Junglia theme park opening
Junglia Okinawa, a new theme park scheduled to open in July in the village of Nakijin in northern Okinawa Prefecture, is hiring 1,500 workers prior to the opening.
Most of its employees moving to the northern part of the prefecture are believed to be choosing to live in the nearby city of Nago with its many commercial facilities, leading to a growing supply-demand imbalance in apartments for rent in the city.
While large-scale hiring may help to revitalize the area, it is also creating a housing supply shortage, affecting students and others who are moving in.
'We have received so many inquiries from Junglia's employees that we can't keep track,' said a real estate agent that has branches across the prefecture.
The agent began getting inquiries around May last year, and it had to say in response to many that there were no rooms available. Deals to move in have been reached for only about five properties, according to the firm.
Another real estate agent, which secured about 10 rooms for people related to Junglia, said that compared with past years, there are fewer people moving out this year.
According to the firm, which handles apartments for rent for families, every year there are families who move out to live in a bigger apartment or live closer to a school and so on.
However, the firm said half the number of families have moved out during this time of the year this year compared with in an average year, reflecting soaring rents.
'When a new theme park is scheduled to open, high priority is given to the construction of a dormitory for its employees, but if there are properties for rent in the neighborhood, the operator tends to choose to rent existing housing to hold down initial investment,' said Yuji Yamaguchi, vice president of J. F. Oberlin University in Tokyo who is well-versed in the leisure industry.
Japan Entertainment, the Nago-based operator of Junglia, said it secured 300 newly built rooms. But it is uncertain whether they are enough to meet the employees' needs.
'Not all (of the employees) moving in (to northern Okinawa) wish to live in company-rented housing,' the firm said.
Apartment owners are looking to raise rents not only because of increasing demand, but also due to factors such as inflation and the higher policy interest rate.
'We can get tenants even with higher rents,' said one real estate agent. 'There is a mismatch between supply and demand, and the market is becoming unsure of the appropriate price range.'
Apartment rents are going up in districts in Nago such as Biimata, Miyazato and Umusa — areas with good access to Junglia and Meio University, a public university in the city — with rooms that have been available at a monthly rent of around ¥50,000 ($350) to ¥60,000 now being offered at prices roughly ¥5,000 higher.
'There are risks of apartment rooms becoming vacant depending on Junglia's business performance,' said a real estate agent. 'No one says it out loud, but some apartment owners admit they are thinking about taking what they can get while the demand is high.'
Real estate agents say even a one-room apartment with a kitchen for a single person, with a rent as high as ¥70,000, including a parking fee, can be filled.
According to an official from Recruit, the operator of real estate information search service Suumo, the occupancy rate of rental apartments in Nago is higher than the rate for the entire main island of Okinawa. It effectively topped 100%, meaning there are people on a waiting list.
Regarding apartments for rent in northern Okinawa, Sotetsu Aniya, director of the Ryugin Research Institute in Naha, said, 'There is a chronic shortage of apartment rooms in Nago, and the rent prices are high.'
The high price trend is maintained there because there are few newly available apartments and rising construction costs.
'The scheduled opening of Junglia is adding to the shortage of rooms, and the impact could grow even worse immediately before and after the actual opening,' Aniya said.
Toru Nakamoto of Kokudo Kantei Center, a real estate appraiser in Naha, also said the level of rent increase in northern Okinawa is higher than that in the entire prefecture.
'The theme park operator secured apartments in advance, leading to a shortage of rooms and rising rents,' said J. F. Oberlin University's Yamaguchi.
'Various issues come up during the early stages of the opening, and it is necessary for the operator and the region hosting the theme park to mutually cooperate to solve problems.'
This section features topics and issues from Okinawa covered by The Okinawa Times, a major newspaper in the prefecture. The original article was published April 5.
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