TOKYO -- Japan's land prices are rising for the first time in eight years as easy money fuels real estate investment and booming tourist spending lifts commercial rents.
The average appraised value of land nationwide was up 0.1% on Jan. 1 from a year earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said Tuesday, the first increase since the 2008 financial crisis. Commercial land values climbed 0.9% after staying flat the prior year. Residential values slid 0.2%, but still improved from the 0.4% decline for January 2015.
