Chapter 4 Section 2 Land Transactions

1 . Trends in Land Transactions

[Land Transactions by Purchase and Disposal]
The number of land transactions (i.e. the number of freehold land transfer registrations) undertaken through purchase and disposal was 1,546,591 in 2006, a decline of 2.1% compared to the previous year (see Chart 4-2-1).

Chart 4-2-1	Trends in the Number of Land Transactions by Purchase and Disposal


Source:	"Annual Statistics of Civil Affairs, Litigation and Human Rights" Ministry of Justice
Note:	Areas are as follows:
		Tokyo region: Osaka region: Nagoya region: Other regions:	Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo Prefecture Aichi and Mie Prefecture areas other than the above

（transaction，%）

	1995		1996		1997		1998
	Number of transactions	y/y	Number of transactions	y/y	Number of transactions	y/y	Number of transactions	y/y
Japan	1,847,921	0.6	1,956,943	5.9	1,847,156	△ 5.6	1,704,601	△ 7.7
Tokyo region	376,466	8.4	417,593	10.9	406,122	△ 2.7	380,756	△ 6.2
Osaka region	192,167	0.7	232,643	21.1	219,647	△ 5.6	202,730	△ 7.7
Nagoya region	96,570	△ 4.4	104,256	8.0	101,427	△ 2.7	91,779	△ 9.5
Other regions	1,182,718	△ 1.3	1,202,451	1.7	1,119,960	△ 6.9	1,029,336	△ 8.1

	1999		2000		2001		2002
	Number of transactions	y/y	Number of transactions	y/y	Number of transactions	y/y	Number of transactions	y/y
Japan	1,718,072	0.8	1,699,973	△ 1.1	1,643,572	△ 3.3	1,600,011	△ 2.7
Tokyo region	412,055	8.2	435,759	5.8	433,948	△ 0.4	432,668	△ 0.3
Osaka region	207,284	2.2	210,559	1.6	202,657	△ 3.8	198,354	△ 2.1
Nagoya region	95,794	4.4	88,930	△ 7.2	89,546	0.7	85,194	△ 4.9
Other regions	1,002,939	△ 2.6	964,725	△ 3.8	917,421	△ 4.9	883,795	△ 3.7

	2003		2004		2005		2006
	Number of transactions	y/y	Number of transactions	y/y	Number of transactions	y/y	Number of transactions	y/y
Japan	1,608,007	0.5	1,600,801	△ 0.4	1,580,450	△ 1.3	1,546,591	△ 2.1
Tokyo region	454,907	5.1	458,637	0.8	469,226	2.3	463,763	△ 1.2
Osaka region	211,596	6.7	208,579	△ 1.4	209,807	0.6	202,025	△ 3.7
Nagoya region	84,436	△ 0.9	89,468	6.0	86,192	△ 3.7	88,078	2.2
Other regions	857,068	△ 3.0	844,117	△ 1.5	815,225	△ 3.4	792,725	△ 2.8

2 . Current Status of Land Transactions by Parties

(Current Status of Transaction Parties)
In terms of total land disposals by parties, of the total areas of land disposals, in 2005 transactions involving individuals comprise about 45%; while those involving corporations account for about 49% (see Chart 4-2-2).
As for those parties involved in the purchase of land, in 2005 the areas of corporations purchasing land were 47%; while the areas of individuals doing so were 45% (see Chart 4-2-3).

Chart 4-2-2

Current Status of Parties of Land Disposal (Areas)


Source:	Preliminary analyze report from "Land Ownership Transfer Survey" by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Note:	Analyzed random selected data (one out of 50) out of land transaction data reported to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport from "Detailed Survey of Areas under Surveillance" and "Basic Survey of Regulations on Land Transactions"

Chart 4-2-3	Current Status of Parties to Land Purchases (Areas)


Source:	Preliminary analyze report from "Land Ownership Transfer Survey" by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Note:	Analyzed random selected data (one out of 50) out of land transaction data reported to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport from "Detailed Survey of Areas under Surveillance" and "Basic Survey of Regulations on Land Transactions"

(Current Status of Vendors and Purchasers in Land Transactions)
With regard to the status of vendors and purchasers, in proportional number terms in 2004, transactions between "individuals to individuals" decreased (see Chart 4-2-4).
On the other hand, in proportional area terms, transactions "individuals to individuals" decreased, (see Chart 4-2-5).

Chart 4-2-4	Status of Vendors and Purchasers in Land Transactions (by the Number of Transactions)


Source:	Preliminary analyze report from "Land Ownership Transfer Survey" by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Note:	Analyzed random selected data (one out of 50) out of land transaction data reported to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport from "Detailed Survey of Areas under Surveillance" and "Basic Survey of Regulations on Land Transactions"

Chart 4-2-5	Status of Vendors and Purchasers in Land Transactions (by Area)


Source:	Preliminary analyze report from "Land Ownership Transfer Survey" by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Note:	Analyzed random selected data (one out of 50) out of land transaction data reported to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport from "Detailed Survey of Areas under Surveillance" and "Basic Survey of Regulations on Land Transactions"

3. Size of Land Investment classified by Institutional Sectors

With regard to size of land investment by institutional sectors, according to "Annual Report on National Accounts", General Government was net buyers and Household, Non-financial Corporations and Financial Corporations were net sellers in 2005 (see Chart 4-3-1).

Chart 4-3-1	Trends of Size of Land Investment classified by Institutional Sectors


Source:	"Annual Report on National Accounts" by Cabinet Office
Note1:	"Households" include "Private Non-profit Institutes serving Households"
Note2:	Figures in < > represents total net buying (total net selling) in each year.
Note3:	The total net buying of land by the General Government includes the land acquired upon the privatization of the four road-related public corporations in October 2005 (approx. eight trillion yen).