Japan's ‘death-tainted' homes gain appeal as property prices soar
Kodama said he has stayed in the house, located in a quiet residential area in Chiba near Tokyo, from 10 pm to 6 am nearly 20 times, monitoring with four video cameras, a thermal camera, an electromagnetic field metre, an air pressure gauge, a thermometer and an IC recorder. He takes notes of the readings every hour.
When he is satisfied that there are no paranormal phenomena, such as unexplained electromagnetic disturbances, he will issue a certificate deeming the property free of ghosts.
In Japan, homes where murders or suicides have occurred are classified as 'jiko bukken' or 'misfortunate properties' that may provoke psychological distress for new owners or tenants. So are homes with 'socially isolated' deaths – the most common type of misfortunate property where bodies are not found for some time and sufficient decay has set in to warrant special cleaning services or even the replacement of floors and wallpaper.
Modern thinking around misfortunate properties has been shaped by Japan's ancient Shinto religion which holds that when a person dies with regrets, their spirit lingers on earth, often at the site of their death, bearing grudges or overwhelmed by grief.
'Finding renters used to be virtually impossible,' said Kodama, who founded his company, Kachimode, three years ago to offer what he calls ghost investigation services for prospective buyers and tenants.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights
Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond.
Sign Up
Sign Up
'But with rising real estate prices, people have begun considering misfortunate properties as an option.'
Japan's property prices have rocketed on a surge in construction material and labour costs as well as an influx of overseas investors, attracted by a weak yen and the relative cheapness of local real estate.
The average price for a second-hand 70-square-metre condominium in Tokyo's 23 wards, for example, jumped by more than a third in May from a year earlier to 100.9 million yen (S$892,158), according to real estate research firm Tokyo Kantei.
An older, lonelier society
Japan's rapidly ageing population has led to more socially isolated deaths. The national policy agency's first-ever report on the issue said there were nearly 21,900 cases last year where the death was not discovered for eight or more days.
The trend is such that the elderly can find it difficult to rent as owners worry their properties may one day become stigmatised.
Partly to mitigate this problem, the central government in 2021 issued guidelines recommending that three years after such a death, homes can shed their misfortunate property labels, potentially making it easier to find tenants.
But owners and agents still need to make disclosures about the property's history to all prospective buyers and to renters if they inquire.
The guidelines have spurred interest in misfortunate properties. Although Kodama may be unique in offering ghost investigative services, other real estate brokers are also seeking to capitalise on this emerging market.
They said that some younger people have become more open to living in misfortunate properties while both domestic and overseas investors, among them many Chinese, are attracted by the potential high yields.
'Investors don't care (about the property's history) because they won't live there,' said Akira Ookuma, founder of broker Happy Planning, adding that some hike rents after three years.
Brokers also note that whereas the site of a murder may have to be sold for 80 per cent below regular market prices or even fail to sell at all, for other misfortunate properties, the discount can be a relatively small 20 per cent.
MarksLife, which offers services for misfortunate properties such as ceremonies for lost souls performed by a Buddhist monk, said that the properties it handles have an average investment return of 8.4 per cent.
By contrast, a studio apartment in central Tokyo has an expected average return of 3.55 per cent, according to a CBRE survey.
Japan's misfortunate properties are only going to rise in number, real estate brokers said.
People aged 65 or above living alone currently account for 14 per cent of all Japanese households but in 20 years' time, they will form a fifth, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research estimates.
Kodama has yet to sign off on the Chiba property – one he now rents with plans to sublet – as ghost-free. But he said that he's done more than 70 investigations and only a fraction have revealed phenomena such as electromagnetic disturbances.
For some prospective buyers, his certificate might be enough. For others, though, any misfortunate property is going to be a bridge too far.
'Even with discounts, I'm going to stay away ... It's not just the potential for ghosts; I'm just creeped out by the unusual and unfortunate histories,' said Mari Shimamura, a 24-year-old office worker. REUTERS
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
2 days ago
- Business Times
Historic Moulmein Road site draws 13 bidders for master tenancy of cluster, with bids for monthly rent of up to S$388,800
[SINGAPORE] A state tender for a cluster of heritage properties in Moulmein Road drew a strong turnout when it closed on Aug 6, attracting 13 bids vying for master tenancy of the 44 buildings on the site. The state-managed buildings stand in a park-like compound on a 985,350 sq ft site with an estimated gross floor area (GFA) of 139,705 sq ft. Of the 44 buildings, 23 are subject to addition and alteration guidelines to retain the character of the site. The other 21 buildings cannot be demolished, but will be exempted from these guidelines. The cluster was home to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases up to 2018, and supported Covid operations until it was returned to the state in 2023. It was put up for tender by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) in May. A compound has been envisioned as a 'dynamic lifestyle hub' catering to families and multi-generational communities. Permitted uses include serviced apartments such as co-living spaces; wellness and fitness facilities such as outdoor pickleball or tennis courts; pet-friendly services; urban farms; an art gallery; and education programmes. About a third of space is to be set aside for food and beverage (F&B) and retail outlets. The 13 bids received exceeded expectations. Savills Singapore's executive director of research and consultancy Alan Cheong said: 'In view of the size of the land and a limited GFA, we were expecting about five bids.' A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up The highest offer of S$388,800 a month came from Country City Investment, a property investment company which has, since 2007, managed parts of the SLA's Dempsey Hill cluster, which has been branded as a lifestyle enclave. The lowest bid of S$18,889 a month came from S1F, an entity linked to contractor Sunray Woodcraft Construction. Other bidders included Cherrylofts Resorts and Hotels (S$382,000), which had also bid in an earlier SLA tender for a holiday chalet site in in Pasir Ris, and SA31 (S$290,000), an entity linked to IndoChine Group's chief executive officer Michael Ma. Developer TS Group offered S$168,000, and marina developer SUTL Enterprise bid S$160,661. The tender evaluation will give 40 per cent weightage to the bid price, and 60 per cent to the concept quality. SLA said this is to encourage 'compelling concepts and forward-looking proposals' from prospective tenderers. Huttons Asia senior director of data analytics Lee Sze Teck said the site's central Novena location likely fuelled the strong turnout. Savills' Cheong noted that the top bid of S$388,800 translates to about S$0.39 per square foot (psf) on land, and S$2.78 psf a month on GFA. In comparison, median retail rents in District 11 in Q2 were over S$8 to S$9 psf. Cheong said: 'Although the successful bidder will have to fork out capital expenditures and very likely have to reinstate the property to its original condition at the end of the lease, the base rent is still low enough to make it feasible.' Overall, he predicts that the site could yield 'something positive' for the occupier if the average passing rent is set at S$8 psf or more a month. Noting that the cost of maintaining the grounds would be high, and that the tenancy was on a '5+4 tenure scheme', that is, for a five-year term, renewable for another four, he added: 'It is the additional four years that may form the bonus pool for the winner, because the time taken to renovate the project would eat up a significant chunk of the first five years of the lease.' Over the last few years, the SLA has offered more heritage properties for private management, in a move to foster adaptive reuse and bring fresh commercial potential to Singapore's older buildings. Recent master tenancy tenders for SLA properties have attracted a wide range of investors and operators, drawn to the unique attributes of the state properties. A co-living concept at 26 Evans Road pulled in a staggering 25 bids – an SLA record – in October 2023. It was eventually awarded to turnkey solutions provider Cover Projects, which submitted the second-highest bid of S$265,000 in a field that ranged from S$63,000 to S$319,000 a month. Another state property in Kim Yam Road drew 11 bids when its tender closed in June 2022. The Lo & Behold Group, a hospitality F&B business founded by UOB's Wee family scion Wee Teng Wen, won the tender despite its bid of S$400,000 a month being the second-lowest. The highest bid came from ACL Construction, at S$806,722. Today, the site is home to New Bahru, a creative lifestyle hub that showcases homegrown brands in food, retail, art, wellness, and design. In the north A cluster of 20 heritage 'black-and-white' bungalows in Sembawang was also offered earlier this year, in a tender that closed in June with five bids. The top bid of S$56,000 a month came from construction company Eco Energy. The group won another state tender for a two-storey heritage shophouse on Hindoo Road – the first state-owned building to be repurposed for co-living – with a top bid of S$68,000 a month in August 2023. Other bidders included TS Group (S$37,600), logistics and leasing company Peck Tiong Choon (S$31,500), and real estate group Top Global (S$8,008). Rounding up the bids was A & C Consultancy with a bid of S$20 a month. The two-storey black-and-white bungalows are in Admiralty Road, Falkland Road, Auckland Road West and Fiji Road. They collectively span around 245,300 sq ft of land, with an estimated GFA of 94,945 sq ft. The tenancy is also on a 5+4 tenure scheme, similar to the Moulmein Road parcel. Unlike Moulmein Road, however, the Sembawang properties are limited mainly to serviced apartment use, although up to 9,580 sq ft of GFA can be given over to F&B and retail use. Huttons' Lee said this could explain the more moderate level of interest in the site. The minimum stay for a serviced apartment is a week, and a hotel licence is not required. SLA has also suggested multi-generational and senior co-living concepts for this site, to promote 'senior living, active ageing and interaction and activities across generations'. Wong Xian Yang, Cushman & Wakefield's research head for Singapore and South-east Asia, said the majority of co-living developments are in the central region, not in suburbs such as Sembawang. The central location means operators can tap into a diverse tenant pool comprising professionals seeking proximity to the central business district and international students attending nearby universities. 'Given the lease tenure, the eventual winner is unlikely to embark on extensive capex works, and would likely prioritise bringing the site to be operationally ready,' he said. The proposals for the two sites are being evaluated. The Moulmein Road tender is expected to be awarded on Nov 30, and the Sembawang site, on Oct 31.
Business Times
6 days ago
- Business Times
China's new home prices fall again but declines ease in major cities
[BEIJING] China's new home prices fell again in July, dropping 0.3 per cent on a month, but declines eased slightly in major cities as more local governments rolled out incentives for homebuyers, though further support is still needed. The month-on-month decline was calculated by Reuters, based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday (Aug 15). In June, prices fell 0.3 per cent. China's property market has been stuck in a severe slump for more than four years, with declining prices, sales, new investment and construction starts weighing on economic growth. Analysts are unsure when conditions will bottom out. 'Given the high exposure of Chinese households to real estate, establishing a trough on prices is one of the most important factors to restoring confidence and generating a sustained consumption recovery,' ING said in a note to clients. Reviving the real estate sector, which in its heyday accounted for a quarter of China's economic activity, is a key task for policymakers as they strive to meet the country's annual GDP growth target of 'around 5 per cent' amid domestic and external headwinds. Of the 70 cities surveyed, 60 reported month-on-month declines, with the pace of falls slightly narrowing in tier-one cities. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up On an annual basis, new home prices fell 2.8 per cent in July, versus a 3.2 per cent drop in June. Notably, year-on-year declines are narrowing modestly across tier-one, tier-two, and tier-three cities. 'A clear turnaround and stabilisation are not yet in sight. The government should roll out a full set of property-market stabilisation measures without delay,' said Li Kai, founding partner and chief investment officer of Beijing Shengao Fund Management. A sustained recovery in the housing market has remained elusive despite multiple rounds of policies to stimulate demand and help qualified developers with their liquidity shortages. Resale home prices fell further year on year and month on month in July, with the declines narrowing in tier-two and tier-three cities but widening in tier-one cities. Separate data showed China's property investment fell 12 per cent year on year in January to July and property sales by floor area fell 4 per cent. 'Urban renewal initiatives and large-scale public housing procurement could help establish a stable baseline for the sector, provided these policies are executed effectively,' said Yuhan Zhang, Principal Economist at The Conference Board's China Center. 'Nonetheless, private market recovery is likely to remain uneven, with lower-tier cities facing greater challenges,' he said. The central government has, in the past few months, continued to call for stabilising the property market, signalling further policy support. An increasing number of local governments have relaxed rules for people to use their provident funds to pay for home purchases. Some also offered subsidies for buying homes. Capital city Beijing in August scrapped curbs for qualified buyers to purchase homes in the city's suburban areas, though it kept the curbs in place within the fifth ring road, a major expressway around the central area. REUTERS
Business Times
7 days ago
- Business Times
Manhattan apartment hunters face record rents and bidding wars
[NEW YORK] Manhattan apartment rents hit a record high for the fifth time in the past six months. New leases were signed at a median of US$4,700 in July, up US$75 from June, according to data from appraiser Miller Samuel and brokerage Douglas Elliman. Rents surged 9.3 per cent from a year earlier, the second-biggest annual jump in the firms' data going back to 2008. It should come as no surprise to New Yorkers that July is one of the year's most competitive months for leasing, when new college graduates flood in and families seek to move before the next school year begins. But the run-up this time has been unprecedented, according to Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel. 'Rent prices have been at record levels for most of this year,' he said. 'I have never seen rents hit records like this before.' Highlighting how cut-throat apartment searches got last month, the share of leases signed after bidding wars rose to an all-time high of 29 per cent, the firms said. While rent growth was high across the board, increases were bigger at the lower end. The median for the entry tier, the bottom 30 per cent of the market, soared 14 per cent year over year to US$3,200. Meanwhile, the median for luxury apartments, the top 10 per cent, rose just 5 per cent to US$10,500. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up In buildings without doormen, which tend to be cheaper, rents rose at nearly twice the rate of doorman properties, the firms said. High mortgage rates are at least partly to blame for the bifurcation. People who can afford to pay cash to buy a home are choosing to go that route, alleviating some of the pressure on higher-end rentals, according to Miller. At the same time, New Yorkers who'd need a mortgage are remaining renters while waiting for borrowing costs to fall. Another new wrinkle this summer has been a law that took effect in June, barring landlords from imposing broker fees on their new tenants. The law prompted owners to pull listings from apartment-search platforms such as StreetEasy, tightening inventory and increasing competition for units that were publicly available, Miller said. August is generally even busier than July for Manhattan's rental market, suggesting at least one more record-breaking month, according to Miller. Higher wages are still giving rents room to grow, but a cooling job market and the impact of tariffs could reverse the trend, he said. In Brooklyn, the median rent on new leases in July rose to US$3,850, the second-highest level on record for the borough, the firms said. The median in northwest Queens, including Astoria and Long Island City, climbed almost 9 per cent from a year earlier to US$3,750. BLOOMBERG
