How Japanese homes lose value with age
Houses 0–5 years old sold for a median ¥39.0M ($249,000). Houses over 40 years old sold for ¥6.0M ($38,000) — 15% of that, even with similar floor space (100 vs 95 m²). Condos lose value more slowly per square meter. (Jan 2025 – Jun 2026, 160,696 sales with a known building year.)
Median sale price by building age (all of Japan)
| Building age | House | vs 0–5 yrs | Condo per m² | vs 0–5 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–5 years | ¥39.0M $249,000 | 100% | ¥1,040k/m² $618/sq ft | 100% |
| 6–10 years | ¥31.0M $198,000 | 79% | ¥1,000k/m² $594/sq ft | 96% |
| 11–20 years | ¥25.0M $160,000 | 64% | ¥811k/m² $481/sq ft | 78% |
| 21–30 years | ¥18.0M $115,000 | 46% | ¥525k/m² $312/sq ft | 50% |
| 31–40 years | ¥11.0M $70,000 | 28% | ¥292k/m² $174/sq ft | 28% |
| 41+ years | ¥6.0M $38,000 | 15% | ¥280k/m² $166/sq ft | 27% |
House sales per age group: 0–5: 31,256 · 6–10: 3,341 · 11–20: 6,698 · 21–30: 10,944 · 31–40: 12,618 · 41+: 25,831. Location is not held constant: new houses are more often built in places where land is expensive, so part of the gap is location, not age.
Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), Real Estate Information Library (https://www.reinfolib.mlit.go.jp/) — real estate transaction price information, aggregated and processed by Japan Home Prices. Not created by the Government of Japan. US dollar figures use the Sep 2026 average of European Central Bank (ECB) euro reference rates, cross-calculated to USD/JPY by Japan Home Prices (1 USD = ¥156.39). Excludes sales with special circumstances (auctions, related parties, private roads, etc.). Medians, not averages.
Prices are past transactions reported to Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) through its survey, processed so that individual properties cannot be identified. They are not listings or appraisals, and a single property can differ a lot because of land shape, road access, building age and condition. US dollar figures use a monthly average exchange rate and are approximate. This site does not give investment, legal or tax advice.