How Much Does a House Cost in Japan? 2026 Prices

How much a house costs in Japan: the numbers

There is no single Japanese price, but seven markets that never overlap. The table below gives the median of each one, meaning the price in the middle of the distribution: half the properties sell for less, half for more. A median is more honest than an average, which a handful of trophy properties is enough to distort.

Segment	Median price (yen)	In euros	Source
Country house needing work (akiya)	4,800,000	29,600	immoJapon catalogue, 384 houses
Traditional farmhouse (kominka)	8,950,000	55,200	immoJapon catalogue, 166 listings
Second-hand house, mainstream market	25,730,000	158,800	Flat 35, fiscal 2024
Second-hand apartment	30,330,000	187,200	Flat 35, fiscal 2024
New ready-built house (tateuri)	38,260,000	236,200	Flat 35, fiscal 2024
Kyoto townhouse (machiya)	69,400,000	428,400	immoJapon catalogue, 176 listings
New apartment, Greater Tokyo	91,820,000	566,800	Fudosan Keizai, full year 2025
New apartment, Tokyo 23 wards	136,130,000	840,300	Fudosan Keizai, full year 2025

From one end of that table to the other the ratio is 1 to 28. That is not a market anomaly: the same mechanism produces both extremes. In Japan a property is worth essentially what its land is worth, and land is worth what its location is worth in a country losing population everywhere except a handful of metro areas. A structurally sound 110 sqm house is worth almost nothing 40 minutes from the nearest station, while a 60 sqm plot in central Tokyo commands a fortune even with a teardown sitting on it.

For a foreign buyer the practical consequence is this: picking a budget means picking a project, not a trim level. Going from 30,000 to 300,000 euros does not buy the same house in better condition, it buys an entirely different life, in another region, with different tax treatment and rental potential. Our complete guide to buying property in Japan covers each of those routes, and priced listings are in our catalogue of akiya and Japanese houses.

Prices actually paid, prefecture by prefecture

Most articles about Japanese house prices quote asking prices, meaning listings. We prefer signed prices. Japan's land ministry publishes real transactions, declared by the buyers themselves, in its open database fudosan joho library (Fudōsan Jōhō Library, real estate information library). The table below is computed on the 236,611 detached house sales recorded between Q1 2024 and Q4 2025 across the 36 prefectures we track.

Prefecture	Sales analysed	Median price paid (yen)	In euros	Median per sqm of floor area (yen)
Kanagawa (神奈川県)	25,665	41,000,000	253,100	400,000
Aichi (愛知県)	18,810	33,000,000	203,700	285,714
Chiba (千葉県)	21,900	30,000,000	185,200	271,198
Kyoto (Kyoto府)	11,487	25,000,000	154,300	247,619
Osaka (Osaka府)	26,787	25,000,000	154,300	226,667
Hyogo (兵庫県)	18,186	25,000,000	154,300	220,000
Shizuoka (静岡県)	8,245	20,000,000	123,500	156,250
Okayama (岡山県)	4,216	19,000,000	117,300	150,000
Fukushima (福島県)	4,265	19,000,000	117,300	150,000
Nagano (長野県)	4,127	17,000,000	104,900	126,316
Niigata (新潟県)	4,193	14,000,000	86,400	91,892
Yamagata (山形県)	1,688	14,000,000	86,400	88,444
Akita (秋田県)	1,848	11,000,000	67,900	77,951
Wakayama (和歌山県)	2,333	8,000,000	49,400	65,714

Three lessons come out of that table, and none of them is intuitive to a Western buyer.

House prices collapse the moment you leave the three big regions

Between Kanagawa (Tokyo's southern commuter belt) and Wakayama there is no 1.5 gap of the kind you see between two European regions, but a factor of 5.1. And these are not different products: both figures cover ordinary detached houses. What you buy in Kanagawa is proximity to a job market of 37 million people.

Price per square metre only means something inside one region

400,000 yen per sqm in Kanagawa against 65,714 yen in Wakayama is a factor of 6. Comparing a Japanese price per square metre with a European one teaches you nothing, because the Japanese figure embeds land value while the building itself depreciates. See our article on why Japanese houses depreciate and land holds the value.

Published amounts are rounded

The medians land on round numbers because the official release rounds transaction amounts before publication, for privacy reasons. Those values are therefore reliable at prefecture scale but do not replace a property-level valuation. We use them as a market benchmark inside our listing pages, never as the price of one specific property.

New, second-hand, akiya: three markets, three budgets

The second serious source on what a house costs in Japan is the annual survey run by the Jutaku Kinyu Shien Kiko (Jūtaku Kin'yū Shien Kikō, Japan Housing Finance Agency) on borrowers using the Flat 35 fixed-rate mortgage. The fiscal 2024 edition covers 27,523 completed files financed between April 2024 and March 2025. This is not a shop window sample: these are closed deals with their full cost, land included.

Type of purchase	Total cost (yen)	In euros
New apartment	55,920,000	345,200
Custom-built house including land purchase	50,070,000	309,100
Custom-built house on land already owned	39,360,000	243,000
New ready-built house	38,260,000	236,200
Second-hand apartment	30,330,000	187,200
Second-hand detached house	25,730,000	158,800

The survey also measures the real financial effort: the deal costs 5.3 times the borrower's annual income for a second-hand detached house, rising to 7.5 times for a custom build including the land. Average borrower household income is 6,690,000 yen (41,300 euros) and the typical borrower is 44.5 years old, which says a lot about this market: people buy late, often once, and second-hand stays markedly cheaper than new.

What our own catalogue shows about the bottom of the market

Those figures describe creditworthy Japanese buyers in populated areas. The segment most of our readers care about, the country house needing work, sits far below. Measured on the 792 available listings in our catalogue on 14 August 2026:

Segment	Listings with a published price	1st quartile (yen)	Median (yen)	Median (euros)	3rd quartile (yen)
Country house	384	2,500,000	4,800,000	29,600	9,800,000
Kominka farmhouse	166	3,800,000	8,950,000	55,200	14,900,000
Kyoto machiya	176	34,800,000	69,400,000	428,400	138,000,000

Three more numbers complete the picture: the all-category median is 9,000,000 yen (55,600 euros), 19 percent of listings sit below 3,000,000 yen (18,500 euros), and the median build year is 1973 among listings where the year is stated. That last point is not trivia: a 1973 house predates the 1981 earthquake code, which changes both the cost of works and the resale value (see the 1981 seismic standard, known as shin-taishin). Finally, 48 of those 792 listings are marked price on request: the seller publishes no figure, usually because land value and building value have not been settled between heirs.

Why what you are really buying is the land

The most counter-intuitive feature of this market fits in one sentence: the house loses its value, the land keeps it. A timber structure is depreciated over 22 years for tax purposes and treated by the market as close to worthless after 30 to 40 years. A 1973 house is therefore worth little more than its plot, minus demolition cost if it is too far gone.

Land, conversely, rises wherever activity concentrates. The chika koji (chika kōji, official land price benchmark published by the state each 1 January) gives the exact measure for 2026:

Scope	Year-on-year change
All uses, national average	+2.8%
Residential land, national average	+2.1%
Commercial land, national average	+4.3%
Greater Tokyo, all uses	+5.7%
Greater Osaka, all uses	+3.8%
Greater Nagoya, all uses	+2.3%

That 2.8 percent national rise is the strongest since 1992, in other words since the bubble burst. But it is an average, and it hides exactly what the transaction table above shows: the three big regions pull the index up while hundreds of rural municipalities keep falling. Our article on Japan property prices in 2026 covers this two-speed market, and our guide to Tokyo's 23 wards takes it down to street level.

The vacant house stock explains the bottom of the market

The 2023 housing and land survey counts 9,000,000 vacant dwellings, or 13.8 percent of the Japanese housing stock, including 3,850,000 that are neither for sale, nor for rent, nor holiday homes: genuinely abandoned houses. That stock is what produces 3,000,000 yen price tags and what feeds the akiya banks. It also explains why a low price is never, on its own, a good deal: there are tens of thousands of houses at that price, and most will never find a buyer.

The Kyoto exception

The 69,400,000 yen median of the machiya (machiya, traditional wooden townhouses) in our catalogue looks inconsistent with the 25,000,000 yen median transaction in Kyoto prefecture. It is not: a renovated machiya in the historic centre is a heritage asset, frequently operated as tourist accommodation, with no equivalent in ordinary house statistics. It is a separate market, described in our guide to buying a machiya in Kyoto.

The asking price is not your budget

This is the mistake that costs foreign buyers the most: reasoning on the listing price. In Japan, on an old and cheap property, the purchase price is often less than half the entry budget. Here is the full structure, on a 5,000,000 yen example.

Item	Amount (yen)	In euros	Nature
Listing price	5,000,000	30,900	Negotiable
Purchase costs, all in	300,000	1,900	Capped at 6% of the price
Renovation (110 sqm at 40,000 yen per sqm)	4,400,000	27,200	The real variable
Total entry budget	9,700,000	59,900
Annual property taxes (estimate)	51,000 / year	315 / year	Recurring

Purchase costs: 6 percent maximum, and that is good news

Acquisition costs in Japan (agency commission, real estate acquisition tax, registration duties, the fee of the shiho shoshi (shihō shoshi, judicial scrivener who registers the title) and revenue stamp) stay under 6 percent of the price, well below typical European levels. The line-by-line breakdown is in our article on the costs of buying property in Japan.

Renovation: the item that decides everything

On a pre-1981 house, budget a provision in the order of 15,000 to 75,000 yen per square metre depending on condition, ambition and site access. That is the range we use in our own yield estimates, and it alone explains why two houses with the same asking price have completely different real costs. Our article on the cost of renovating a machiya or a kominka gives prices trade by trade.

Annual holding costs

The kotei shisan zei (kotei shisan-zei, fixed asset tax) is 1.4 percent of the assessed cadastral value, plus 0.3 percent city planning tax in urbanised zones. The assessed value is well below the price paid, which makes annual bills very low in rural areas, often a few hundred euros. Details in our article on property tax in Japan.

Three real budgets: 30,000, 100,000 and 300,000 euros

Here is what each envelope actually buys at August 2026 prices. Yen amounts are converted at 162 yen per euro, the reference rate used across this site.

30,000 euro budget (about 4,900,000 yen): the country house needing work

You are sitting exactly on the median of the houses in our catalogue. In practice: a detached house of 100 to 130 sqm of floor area, built between 1965 and 1985, in a rural prefecture (Wakayama, Yamagata, Niigata, Akita), with land. It is habitable but rarely comfortable: single glazing, almost no insulation, original bathroom.

The trap at this level is spending the whole envelope on the purchase. A better split is 40 percent purchase and 60 percent works. With 30,000 euros in total, target a 12,000 euro house and keep the rest. Above all, check the distance to a station: beyond 20 to 30 minutes by car from a served station and shops, resale becomes very hard whatever you paid.

100,000 euro budget (about 16,200,000 yen): real comfort or a rental project

This budget changes the nature of the project. It buys either a characterful kominka already partly renovated (the median of our 166 kominka is 55,200 euros, leaving 45,000 euros for works), or a decent house in a well-served prefecture such as Shizuoka (median transaction: 123,500 euros), or a rental project in a tourist area. This is the level at which yield becomes a serious question: our rental yield simulator computes net income after costs, management and tax.

300,000 euro budget (about 48,600,000 yen): the city or the heritage asset

You are now inside the mainstream Japanese market. Three routes: a family house in the Tokyo commuter prefectures (Chiba at 185,200 euros, Kanagawa at 253,100 euros median), a second-hand apartment in a major city centre, or a small Kyoto machiya to renovate (first quartile of our catalogue: 214,800 euros). This budget also opens up small rental buildings in the regions. Our worked case studies show two real deals in that range, with final cost and yield.

One reminder that applies to all three

None of these purchases can be financed with a mortgage from abroad. Japanese home loans are reserved for salaried residents of Japan; a few foreigner-friendly banks lend under strict conditions, and a non-resident caps out at 50 to 70 percent of value at best. Plan a cash purchase, as explained in our article on mortgages in Japan for foreigners.

The seven mistakes that blow up the bill

1. Confusing the listing price with the budget. On a 5,000,000 yen property, works almost always exceed the purchase price. A plan costed without a renovation provision is not a plan, it is a wish.
2. Chasing the 1 yen house. Properties transferred for a token sum do exist, but the price is symbolic precisely because the restoration cost, the remoteness or the obligations attached to the gift are not. We took the mechanism apart in 1 yen and free akiya, what the price hides.
3. Applying European price-per-sqm logic. The Japanese square metre embeds land that appreciates and a building that depreciates. Two houses at the same price per square metre will not be worth the same in ten years.
4. Assuming a mortgage will be available. This is the number one reason we see projects abandoned. Financing is settled before the search, not after falling in love with a house.
5. Buying far from everything because it is cheaper. The low price is a consequence of the remoteness, never an opportunity. Simple rule: a served station and shops within 20 to 30 minutes, otherwise the asset is a one-way street.
6. Underestimating bringing the house up to standard. Before 1981 the structure does not meet the current earthquake code. Add insulation, damp and termite risk, three items most listings never mention.
7. Believing that buying grants residency. Buying property in Japan gives you no visa, no residence status and no immigration advantage whatsoever. The subject is covered in buying a house in Japan without a visa.

Expert advice for paying the right price

Check every price against real transactions

The land ministry database is free and open to everyone. Search the municipality, the property type and the period, then look at the distribution of prices paid, not the average. A property listed 30 percent above the local median must justify that gap with something visible: a recent renovation, a larger plot, a rare aspect. Otherwise the gap is your negotiating room.

Always separate land value from building value

Ask the agency for the land area, the floor area and the build year. Land value compares against the chika koji for the zone; the building is valued at rebuild cost less age. A seller who will not break out those three figures is selling a price, not a property.

What price on request really means

A listing with no published price (o sodan, 応相談, open to discussion) is neither a trap nor a hidden bargain. It usually signals an unsettled estate, a property owned by several heirs, or a seller waiting for an offer before making up their mind. These files take longer and are sometimes more negotiable, but they require someone on the ground.

Negotiation exists, but it is not Western negotiation

A written offer (kaitsuke iraisho, kaitsuke依頼書, letter of intent to purchase) morally commits the buyer and starts the process. A lowball offer filed to test the market backfires: it marks you as an unserious buyer and the agency will work for someone else first. The strongest lever is not the amount, it is how long the listing has been sitting and how solid your proof of funds is.

Have the three documents that hide the bad surprises checked

The land register reveals mortgages and easements, the important matters explanation document reveals zoning constraints and natural hazards, and the cadastral plan reveals boundary disputes. All three are written in legal Japanese. If you have nobody on the ground, our buying support service covers these checks before the offer is filed, and the discovery call is free.

Key takeaways

How much does a house cost in Japan? Between 8,000,000 yen (49,400 euros) and 41,000,000 yen (253,100 euros) depending on the prefecture for an ordinary detached house, with a national median of 25,730,000 yen (158,800 euros) on the mortgage market, and a median of 4,800,000 yen (29,600 euros) in the country-house segment we track.

Three rules cover the rest. First: the asking price is not the budget, count purchase costs (under 6 percent) and above all the works, which frequently exceed the purchase price on an old property. Second: what you pay for is a location, because the building depreciates and the land carries the value. Third: a very low price is the consequence of a location problem, never an opportunity in itself.

To turn these numbers into an actual property, browse our catalogue of priced Japanese houses, test a project in the rental yield simulator, and read the complete guide to buying property in Japan before you make an offer.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a house cost in Japan on average?

A second-hand detached house sells for a median of 25,730,000 yen (158,800 euros) on the Japanese mortgage market, and a new ready-built house for 38,260,000 yen (236,200 euros). The median actually paid ranges from 8,000,000 yen (49,400 euros) in Wakayama prefecture to 41,000,000 yen (253,100 euros) in Kanagawa.

Can you buy a house in Japan for 30,000 euros?

Yes. The median country house in our catalogue is 4,800,000 yen (29,600 euros) and 19 percent of listings sit below 3,000,000 yen (18,500 euros). That budget does not cover renovation though: on a pre-1981 house, bringing it back into condition often costs more than the purchase.

How much does a house in Tokyo cost?

A detached house in the Tokyo commuter belt has a median transaction price of 30,000,000 yen (185,200 euros) in Chiba prefecture and 41,000,000 yen (253,100 euros) in Kanagawa. Inside the 23 wards of Tokyo, new apartments averaged 136,130,000 yen (840,300 euros) in 2025.

Can a foreigner buy a house in Japan?

Yes, with no nationality or residency restriction. A non-resident can buy freehold, land included, exactly like a Japanese citizen. The only practical hurdles are financing, the personal seal and being present or represented for signing.

Does buying a house in Japan give you a visa?

No. Buying property grants no residence rights, no status and no immigration advantage in Japan. There is no Japanese golden visa. Residency has to be obtained separately, through a work visa or the business manager visa for instance.

What are the closing costs when buying a house in Japan?

They stay under 6 percent of the price, all in: agency commission, real estate acquisition tax, registration duties, the judicial scrivener fee and revenue stamp. That is markedly lower than in most European countries.

Can you get a Japanese mortgage while living abroad?

Almost never. Japanese home loans are reserved for salaried residents of Japan. A few foreigner-friendly banks lend under strict conditions, and a non-resident caps out at 50 to 70 percent of the property value at best. In practice, plan a cash purchase.

Why do Japanese houses lose value?

Because timber construction is depreciated over 22 years and treated by the market as close to worthless after 30 to 40 years. Value shifts onto the land, which rises in the big metro areas and falls in regions losing population.