Hongkongers join bespoke Japan property tours to scout for investment opportunities amid yen’s slump
- With Japan reopening its borders to tourists, specialist Hong Kong property agencies are organising tours for investors looking to take advantage of the yen’s decline
- One six-day package includes a helicopter tour of Tokyo, dining at three-star Michelin omakase restaurants, five-star hotel stays in Japan and Hong Kong on return for quarantine
Japan’s reopening of its borders to international tourists is attracting investors from Hong Kong looking to seize real estate opportunities with the yen at a near 25-year low.
“It is a tailor-made pleasure-cum-investment tour for our clients who either need to complete a property transaction for an earlier investment or plan to look for new investment opportunities there,” said Kelvin Chung Yik-shum, a director at JP Invest, a property agent focused on Japan.
It has teamed up with Japanese travel agencies to organise a trip in August. The company had organised its first tour, taking Hongkongers on a “business trip” in May when the country only allowed people visiting for business purposes.
The tour includes a night helicopter tour of Tokyo city, dining at three-star Michelin omakase restaurants and luxury hotel stays. The price also covers the compulsory seven-day quarantine in a five-star hotel upon return to Hong Kong.
“The tour will also include visits to some luxury residential projects, retail properties and whole blocks of buildings that are on sale,” Chung said.
He noted that retail properties have the potential to yield better returns as a sharp depreciation of the yen is likely to spur a massive rebound in tourist arrivals and spending.
The Japanese yen last week dropped to its lowest level against the US dollar since October 1998, extending losses which have already seen it shed more than 18 per cent of its value this year. The currency lost more ground after the Bank of Japan on June 17 dashed any expectations of a change in policy and continued to stand alone among other major central banks in its commitment to ultra-easy monetary settings.
“We received 20 to 30 per cent more inquiries about property investment in Japan last week from the previous week,” Chung said.
Joy Yau and her husband, who were frequent visitors to Japan before the pandemic, were part of JP Invest’s first investment tour to explore opportunities in Tokyo.
“We are interested in buying a retail shop in a prime location in Tokyo as the price has become more affordable after the yen’s fall,” said Yau, who has an investment budget of HK$10 million (US$1.27 million).
Yau is still negotiating a deal with the seller for the shop, which is currently leased to a ramen restaurant doing good business.
02:13
Japan to welcome small tour groups after scrapping travel curbs on international visitors
Other specialist Japanese property agencies like Sakura Global have also seen a jump in investment inquiries in the past couple of months.
“We recently arranged a small group of clients to fly to Osaka,” said Anvy Cheung, chief executive of Sakura Global.
Most of them are interested in buying lived-in flats and renting them out as part of their long-term investment plan.
“The number of transactions has increased 40 to 50 per cent so far this year, compared with same period in 2021 [when transactions were hit because of the pandemic],” she said.
