TOKYO, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The average price of new condominium units listed for sale in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures in the first half of fiscal 2017 reached the highest level since 1991, a time when the country was still in a bubble economy, an industry survey showed on Monday.
The average price of new condos in Tokyo and neighboring Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures reached 59.93 million yen (536,000 U.S. dollars) in the April-September period, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier and rising for the fifth consecutive year, the Real Estate Economic Institute said.
High labor costs and rising land prices were the main reasons for the rise of the prices, which were the highest since the average price reached 61.37 million yen (549,000 U.S. dollars) for the first half of fiscal 1991, said the institute.
Meanwhile, the number of new condos put up for sale in the area declined 3.6 percent from a year earlier to 16,133 units, down for the fourth consecutive year and the lowest since 1992, said the institute.
By area, supply increased 15.9 percent in Tokyo's 23 wards while declining 7.0 percent in the remainder of Tokyo, down 17.2 percent in Kanagawa, 6.6 percent in Saitama and 37.8 percent in Chiba prefecture.
In Osaka and five nearby prefectures in western Japan, the average price of new condos rose 1.2 percent to 39.09 million yen (350,000 U.S. dollars) while supply climbed 12.6 percent to 9,889 units.
