One of Australia's largest real estate and property brokers to enter Hokkaido market.

One of Australia's largest real estate brokerage houses, L.J.Hooker (LJH) is entering the Hokkaido real estate market. It was announced recently that they will be starting business in Hokkaido from early next year. Due in large part to the prospering Niseko region, foreign interest in Hokkaido property and real estate has been judged to be extremely high. LJH is looking to open 35 franchises in Hokkaido and a total of 70 throughout Japan within 3 years.

L.J. Hooker was founded in 1928 in Sydney and operates more than 800 offices throughout Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Dealing in homes, resorts properties, and office space, they've also set up an online brokerage. Even in the big world of real estate brokerage, LJH's scale is massive.

LJH established LJH International Property Service Japan in Tokyo as a corporation in April of this year. LJH plans to do business throughout Japan, but has first set its sigthts on Sapporo.

An office is now being built in Sapporo's Minami-ku and will be opened in January with an eye towards recruiting franchisees. Not limiting themselves to the foreign market, LJH will also market directly to the Japanese market. The Sapporo office manager stated, "The interest is Hokkaido property estate is high not only in Australia, but also in Taiwan and China. Our network will support that."

Hutchinson Builders' confidence in developing a second high-end residential ski resort in Japan's surging Niseko region has been vindicated by Australian investors, who have secured three quarters of apartments in the building ahead of official launch this week.

Twenty one of the 26 apartments in the $20 million Alpen Views resort have been sold to predominantly Australian investors, with just three deluxe apartments and two penthouses remaining, priced between $A975,000 and $A1.85 million.

The success of Alpen Views follows the launch of Hutchinson's Alpen Ridge residential ski resort in Niseko early last year, which posted a one-day $23 million sellout of the building before its official release.

Hutchinson Builders chairman Scott Hutchinson says he expects the remaining five apartments in Alpen Views will be snapped up quickly, due to the building's unrepeatable location in the heart of Niseko's main town, Hirafu.

"Alpen Views is located on the main street of Hirafu's prestigious Upper Village and will be the closest residential luxury apartment building to the main chairlift – it is a ski enthusiast and investor's dream," he said.

Buyers are also expected to be spurred by the recent announcement of the Commonwealth Bank's new Japanese Snowfields Property Loan product.

The Australian-first product now allows purchasers to secure their loan against their Japanese snowfield property to buy re-sale or ‘off the plan,' so they may no longer need to secure their finance through domestic assets. The loan may also be used to refinance an existing loan, or unlock the value in an existing snowfields property.

Mr Hutchinson says the new finance package, coupled with the current availability of yen loans at around 3.95 per cent interest, makes the Japanese snowfield property market extremely enticing for Australian investors.

"Niseko is internationally renowned for having some of the best powder snow conditions, and Australians have become one of the region's biggest tourist and investor markets," Mr Hutchinson said.

"The number of Australasian visitors to Niseko increased more than ten-fold between 2001 and 2006, and the number is still growing – 15,000 Australians visited in the 2006/2007 ski season and that figure has reportedly increased by 20 per cent this season.

"Niseko is becoming an alternative to traditional ski destinations like Europe or North America, because of the quality of snow, inexpensive lift tickets, standard of accommodation and availability of direct flights from many cities meaning less jet lag.

"With increasing tourist numbers, affordable loan rates and the ease of securing a loan, it's no wonder investors are scrambling to secure their slice of the action in Niseko."

The avalanche of investors looking to secure property in Niseko has been a catalyst for a wave of new resort development in the village.

Some of the world's biggest finance, development and resort conglomerates are turning their attention to securing sites in Niseko, including Citigroup, the Hilton Hotel Group and Hong Kong's Pacific Century Premium Developments.

Mr Hutchinson says Hutchinson Builders is actively seeking further sites to develop in and around Niseko.

"Prime sites are being taken up very quickly by a number of major development and building companies who understand the true potential of Niseko – things are only just getting started," he said.

"The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, reported that the number of sites in Niseko owned by foreigners rose from 11 sites in 2004 to 249 by the beginning of 2006, which really demonstrates the high level of confidence international investors have in this region.

"Although it is known for its popularity as a winter destination, developers are also helping to create amenities to boost summer tourism, which is surging ahead with more than 10 golf courses in the area, white water rafting, climbing, mountain biking, surfing and more.

"The unique Japanese culture is another major drawcard, and we are starting to see Niseko blossom as a world-class destination year-round."

The Alpen Views site was acquired from its Japanese owner in March 2007 for $A1.3 million.

The building boasts 26 luxury penthouse-style apartments over seven floors, with cutting-edge architectural design.

Alpen Views has been designed by Brisbane-based Cottee-Parker Architects and Japanese Architects Nikken Sekkei – the same team that created Alpen Ridge.

Original Article

Niseko Property and Real Estate

The following are the current standings of ongoing Niseko property polls being conducted by NisekoProperty.net. Feel free to cast your own Niseko property vote using the ballots on the lower right.

Which part of Niseko would you invest your property dollar in?

• Niseko Hirafu: 22.6%
• Niseko Annupuri: 19.4%
• Niseko Higashiyama: 19.4%
• Niseko Moiwa: 12.9%
• Niseko Hanazono: 9.7%
• Kutchan: 9.7%
• Rusutsu: 6.5%

Why invest in property in Niseko?

• Unbeatable Powder Snow: 44.4%
• Hospitality of the People: 13.9%
• Location and Access: 13.9%
• Incredbiel Value: 11.1%
• Return on Investment: 8.3%
• Year-round Activities: 5.6%
• Character of the Resort: 2.8%

We are also looking to rank the local Niseko property and real estate companies: Hokkaido Real Estate, Hokkaido Tracks Development, Niseko Alpine Developments (NISADE), Niseko Property, Niseko Real Estate, Niseko Realty Sales, Ridgerunner Property, West Canada Properties. Vote for the one that you consider best based on your experiences with these companies. We'll tally the results and profile the winner later in the year. Ballot lower right...

Niseko Property and Real Estate

Niseko Property News

Two large Japanese companies, Nisshin LRD and ZEPHYR, have partnered up and are openly requesting an exception to the recently drafted building guidelines.

The guidelines were implemented in March of this year (see Niseko Property Guidelines) to regulate Hirafu area construction and development, with an eye towards managing growth in the Niseko Hirafu area. The most important aspect of the guidelines was the height restriction, although other factors were touched upon including building footprint and floor area ratios. Many supporters of the guidelines are happy about restraining laissez-faire growth, but others concerned about possibly slowing resort growth and the guideline's potentially negative effect on Niseko property values felt that their voices were ignored in the community consultation process that led up to the implementation of the guidelines.

If this new challenge to the integrity of the guidelines is succesful and an exception is made, two things will happen: 1) The guidelines, implemented after consultation with community stakeholders for the benefit of the resort and the community, will be weakened and 2) Charges of preferential treatment (and possibly even discrimination) will be leveled at the government, generating inevitable yet hard to quantify resentment between the government and its foreign cash cow. If the challenge is not successful, and the permits are ultimately not issued, the companies will shift their resources out of Niseko Hirafu, and Kutchan will lose out on spending and employment associated with the hotel's construction and operations. The stakes are large.

For their part, Nisshin and Zephyr are playing their cards well. They are appealing to Kutchan at a gut level with flow charts and flowing prose extrolling the economic and employment benefits to the community. They have made partners of respected local entities such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Kutchan Tourism Association. They are applying polite but firm pressure to the government.

A recent packet that Nisshin and Zephyr distributed widely in the business community in Kutchan includes a letter of greetings and introduction from the companies, pre-drafted letters to the mayor for gathering support (just sign and send!), a letter from the local chamber of commerce, and a presentation describing the project and outlining the economic benefits to the Niseko-Hirafu area.

Opposition to the hotel exception being granted is common among Niseko property developers and other community stakeholders, but organized opposition does not seem to have coalesced. Some are holding out hope that the Niseko Resort Board (Niseko Promotion Board), with a stated commitment to promoting the resort in a sustainable way, will take the lead in opposing the exception.

Niseko Real Estate News