Olympics: Tokyo Games revive buyer interest for Athletes' Village condos

TOKYO (BLOOMBERG) – Condominiums at the Olympic Village, where many of the athletes for the Tokyo Games stayed as they prepared for competition, are seeing a revival in buyer interest after the sports spectacle took place without any major hitches.

Rising prices for Tokyo real estate are starting to make the Olympic Village condos in the Harumi district near Tokyo Bay an attractive proposition. More than 5,600 units for an estimated 12,000 residents will be made available at the development, called Harumi Flag.

When the Olympics were delayed last year, sales of the condos were also suspended. While the delay fuelled concerns that potential buyers would not be willing to wait another year to move into the properties, there were 5,000 requests for more information while it was paused, prior to the re-launching of the website for the development in June, according to Mitsui Fudosan Co.

A total of 10 real-estate firms, including Mitsui and Mitsubishi Estate Co., developed the project. Public viewings for the former Olympics condos start later this month even though the Paralympics will run from Aug 24 to Sept 5.

According to Tokyo Kantei Co., a property research firm, average listing prices for used condos in the city central districts were up 11 per cent in June from a year earlier, at ¥91.5 million (S$1.12 million). By comparison, the average price for a 72.9 sq m property in the former Olympic Village is ¥57 million.

Although the Harumi area, built on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, is ideally situated 2.5km from the Ginza shopping district, the lower cost reflects less-than-ideal access to public transport, 16 to 20 minutes away by foot.

“They’re much cheaper than properties located closer to stations, and that makes them very competitive,” said Koki Ozawa, an analyst at SBI Securities Co. With more people working from home, there is less of a need to be closer to transport, he added.

While prices for the properties were unveiled in January 2020, the delay of the Games also meant that buyers will not be able to move in until March of 2024 while they are being refurbished for the long-term buyers.

Takashi Kakizaki, editor of the Suumo real-estate portal run by Recruit Holdings Co., said that the former Olympic Village properties seem to be within reach of more buyers, given that they are selling at around ¥60 million, compared with ¥80 million to ¥90 million for similar-sized properties closer to nearby Kachidoki station.

Demand appears to be solid. There were 2,220 applications for 940 Mitsui properties when they went on sale in January 2020. There were some cancellations, and the company has not decided whether to include any of those in future sales.

“We don’t consider any of these properties to be discounted,” said Satoshi Katsuki, the manager in charge of residential projects at Mitsui. “Considering their location relative to public transport, we think the prices are appropriate.”

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