Weak yen boosts foreign investors’ demand for property in Japan
“Hotel101” in Niseko ready for Thai investors
Richmont’s International, a leading real estate marketing and sales company, views weak Japanese yen as a rising opportunity for Thai investment in Japan. Coupled with increasing number of Thai visitors to Japan after the pandemic, the demand for real estate in Japan has continued to rise. Capturing this trend, Richmont’s International is offering “Hotel101”, a chic hotel in Niseko, in popular ski resort region Hokkaido, as a promising investment choice for Thai investors.
Tim Skevington, Managing Director of Richmont’s (International) Co Ltd, said that Thailand’s real estate market is showing signs of recovery after a slow start to the year. Investors have higher confidence in investment in Thailand after the new government took office. Settlement of new government policy and direction have improved consumer and investors’ confidence. As a result, the property and real estate market in Thailand is likely to become more active in the final quarter of this year. The strengthening tourism industry as we move towards the tourist high season will also boost purchasing power in local market as well as from foreigners.
Overseas property market, however, depends on the location. From Thai investors’ point of view, Japan has high potential due to increasing number of visitors. In the first half of 2023, the number of Thais visiting Japan has already reached 497,700. Hokkaido region has become more popular among visitors, especially those enjoying skiing and charming atmosphere. Niseko, a small town in Hokkaido also welcomes more Thais and foreign visitors and investors every year. Therefore, property projects, especially condominium and hotels, are in high demand.
During May 2022- April 2023, Niseko alone welcomed 3.21 foreign visitors. This includes 1.48 million visitors in summer (May 2022-October 2022), and 1.73 million in winter (November 2022-April 2023). Out of this number, 128,000 or 4% of the total are from Thailand, which makes Thai visitors a very promising group.
Hannah Yulo-Luccini, Hotel101’s CEO, said that DoubleDragon Corporation is the investors and operator of the Hotel101-Niseko, Japan. This over 4.6-billion-baht project is a condotel in modern Japanese style that focuses on simplicity and space optimization. This project covers an area of about 6 rai and consists of one 6-story building with one basement. It houses 482 HappyRooms with full functions found in any condominium unit plus shared facilities like any hotels. Hotel101 generously provides ample parking space for 167 cars, or about 40% of the total number of rooms. This project construction started in August this year and is scheduled for completion in 2026.
To meet with foreign investors’ demand during the weak yen period, each unit in the project is offered in joint-investment format. Hotel101 will manage the entire project and offer 70:30 profit sharing. Owners will receive 30% Gross room revenue (excluding taxes). Hotel101 will also be responsible for the management, unit maintenance and renovation. Owners will enjoy 10-night free stay per year, including 5 nights at Hotel101-Niseko and another 5 nights at other Hotel101 worldwide.
Niseko is a ski resort that operates all year found and offers lots of fun activities for both summer and winter. In winter, this town offers longer skiing period, starting from November to April. In summer, Niseko is ideal for any outdoor activities given pleasant average temperature of 21 degree Celsius. Golf is among the most popular sports in this region which has 119 golf courses, many of which are included in Asia’s top 100 golf courses. Visitors can also enjoy cycling, trekking, water sports, kayak, horse riding, fishing and camping.
“Niseko is on the west of Hokkaido. Cold wind from Siberia arrives here first and brings with it lots of snow. What’s very special about snow in Niseko is that it is powder soft, just perfect for skiing,” said Hannah.
Paul Morris, Sales Manager of H2 Christie’s International Real Estate, Japan, added that all units in Hotel101-Niseko is the same room type, called HappyRoom. Each fully furnished unit covers 21 square meters and can accommodate up to 3 guests. Special sales price during the project launch is the same for all units at 9.09 million baht each regardless of its location in the project. Customers can make investment in cash or installments. Niseko is one of the fastest growing skiing resort town and has secured the No. 1 ranking in Japan in terms of investment growth potential for 3 consecutive years. In addition, the value of land has increased over 44%.
“The Hotel101 Group currently operate 2,001 hotel rooms and have a global secured pipeline of 6,013 more rooms said Morris. Back by this strong network, we believe that Hotel101 – Niseko will remain at the forefront of the most investor-friendly condotel in Niseko in the next several years. Considering the weakest yen against the US dollar in 20 years, this is the truly interesting time for investors from Thailand and all other countries,”
Travelling to Hotel101 Niseko is convenient. Flying from Bangkok would take only 6 hours and 30 minutes to Japan. The hotel is only 100 kilometers from New Chitose Airport which takes a 2-hour drive. In the future, travelling will be made even more easy as there are plans to build more transport connection to support Niseko’s proposal to be the host of the Winter Olympic and Paralympics 2030. Under the plan, an extension rail line will be built to connect with Shinkansen, which will reduce travel time from Sapporo from 2 hours down to 25 minutes, and from Tokyo by air and rail from 6 hours to 4 hours and 18 minutes.
In Thailand, Hotel101 – Niseko, Japan appointed Richmont’s (International) to be its sole sales agent. The project sales will start from October 16, 2023.
Interested investors can contact Richmont’s (International) sales department at Tel. 06 2496 6454 or click www.richmonts.com for more information.
