At property investment firm FM Investment, Singaporeans account for half of all transactions, up from last year’s 30% and overtaking Hong Kong buyers as the largest client group, as reported by Channel News Asia.

The company, which used to organize Japanese property sales events in Singapore once every few months, has already held at least 15 events for 12 boutique developments in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Kyoto.

At real estate firm OrangeTee’s first Japanese property showcase in September, a two-bedroom apartment in Tokyo’s Asakusa district went for under S$500,000 (US$384,000). In July, Singapore-based investors bought half of the 60 units at a boutique Osaka project sold by property consultancy Savills Singapore in July.

Corporate names are also joining the trend, according to The Business Times. Patience Capital Group earlier this year teamed up with Hong Kong’s Gaw Capital to buy Tokyu Plaza Ginza in Tokyo and raised 39 billion yen (US$252.3 million) for a tourism fund to revive ski towns such as Myoko and Madarao. CapitaLand Investment acquired four self-storage facilities in Osaka in December 2024 and a mixed-use property in Tokyo this June.

Japanese properties have, in recent years, been attracting growing interest from Singaporeans as they can be much more accessible to those in the city-state or other countries like Australia and Canada.

Entry into the market is straightforward with virtually no restrictions on foreign ownership while the yen’s continued depreciation has made prices more affordable. S$1 currently exchanges for about 118.35 yen, meaning the yen has weakened by roughly 17% against the Singapore dollar over the past five years.

Most Singaporean buyers are focusing on investment properties, particularly short-term rentals that benefit from strong tourism growth. From January to September, Japan saw a record 31.65 million foreign visitors, a 17.7% increase from the same period in 2024, as reported by NHK World-Japan.

There is also a steady demand from other tenants like students and local professionals, especially in cities with universities and multinational firms.

Tokyo, particularly areas like Roppongi and Shibuya, still leads the market though Osaka is fast closing the gap, according to Amous Lee, FM Investment’s CEO, who estimates rental yields of about 5% in Osaka versus 3% in Tokyo.

Investors more familiar with the market are also branching out from major cities, seeking potentially higher yields in places such as Kyoto and Fukuoka.

Singapore-based property publication Stacked Homes said gross rental yields in secondary cities like Fukuoka, Sapporo and Osaka range from 5-8%, much higher than the 2-3% seen in the city-state.

The publication, however, noted that while the yields are attractive, Singaporean buyers can face unfamiliar costs like management fees, earthquake insurance and renovation.

International appeal

The appeal of Japan’s property market extends well beyond Singapore, drawing growing interest from investors across the globe.

Data from CBRE Japan show that overseas buyers purchased 1.14 trillion yen (US$7.76 billion) worth of properties in Japan in the first half of 2025, a record for the period since 2005. Office buildings made up more than 40% of those deals, as reported by Nikkei Asia.

One of the biggest transactions ever made by a foreign firm was U.S.-based Blackstone’s acquisition of the Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho complex for $2.6 billion in February.

The firm’s head of real estate for Japan, Daisuke Kitta, described Japan as “one of the most promising markets in the world.”

In Osaka, some 2,305 of the city’s 5,587 “minpaku” private lodgings, which are popular with foreign tourists, were affiliated with Chinese individuals and firms as of the end of last year, according to a survey by Hannan University professor Yoshihisa Matsumura.

These investors, many from Beijing, Shanghai and other major Chinese cities, often spend as much as hundreds of millions of yen to buy entire apartment blocks or redevelop old houses.

The full scale of foreign buying is difficult to measure since Japan does not release official data by nationality, according to CNBC.

However, a semiannual survey by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking published in March 2025 showed that foreign buyers typically account for 20-40% of new apartment sales in Tokyo’s Chiyoda, Shibuya and Minato wards.

Looking forward, Kenichiro Yunome of the Urban Research Institute said Japan is likely to remain attractive to overseas investors.

“As the global economy faces uncertainties due to U.S. tariffs and other factors, Japan is seen as a comparatively ‘safe asset’ with its stable economy and real estate market,” he told The Asahi Shimbun.