Japan is back in the spotlight for international real estate investors. Recent surveys indicate that Japan was the third most active market globally in 2013 after the U.S. and the U.K., with transaction volumes of approximately $40 billion, the highest since the financial crisis and nearly a 70 percent increase from 2012 (double in terms of local currency). Tokyo is currently generally viewed as the top ranked city in the Asia-Pacific region for real estate investment.

“Abenomics”, the aggressive monetary easing program implemented by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to reverse two decades of economic weakness, is beginning to show results. A combination of the yen depreciating against the dollar by more than 20 percent during the last year, low-cost debt available from Japan domestic banks, an attractive real estate yield spread over treasuries, and rents and land prices that appeared to have bottomed out in Tokyo and in a number of other major Japanese cities, have all contributed to the appeal of the Japan market for foreign investors.