Buying an Apartment in Tokyo: What Prices Look Like by Area

Guide

How much does an apartment cost in Tokyo? It depends heavily on the area. Resale apartments reported as sold in Tokyo's 23 wards in April 2026 went for an average of ¥77.34 million, with an average of about ¥1.37 million per square meter, but the area averages ranged from about ¥1.01 million per square meter in the eastern wards to ¥2.43 million in the central three wards of Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato.^[1]^[2] At those averages, ¥100 million covers about 41 m² in the central three wards and about 99 m² in the eastern wards.

As of June 9, 2026, April 2026 was the latest month for which these figures had been published. This guide shows what the differences mean if you want to buy an apartment in Tokyo with a budget of around ¥100 million.

Three price measures, and which one this guide uses

Prices for Tokyo apartments for sale are reported in three different statistical series, and they should not be mixed:

Contract (sold) prices (成約価格) are the agreed prices of the property, not including the costs of buying. This guide is built on the monthly statistics of the Real Estate Information Network for East Japan (REINS), which group resale apartments by the month their sale was reported to the network.^[2]
Asking prices are what sellers put on the market. REINS publishes these separately as new listings (新規登録), and they are not the same as sold prices.^[2]
New-build prices are the average prices that developers set for newly built units released for sale, published by the Real Estate Economic Institute. These are not sold prices either.^[3]

The REINS figures cover sales registered with the network, not every sale in Tokyo, and each figure is an average across apartments of different sizes, ages and locations.^[2]

Tokyo resale apartment prices by area (April 2026)

REINS divides the 23 wards into five areas and reports the Tama area, the rest of Tokyo outside the 23 wards excluding the islands, separately.^[2] The table shows averages for resale apartments whose sales were reported to REINS in April 2026.

Area	Wards	Avg. sold price per m²	Avg. sold price	Avg. floor area	Avg. building age
Central three wards	Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato	¥2.43 million	¥139.3 million	57.3 m²	20.6 years
West (Josai)	Shinjuku, Shibuya, Suginami, Nakano	¥1.62 million	¥83.59 million	51.5 m²	27.4 years
South (Jonan)	Shinagawa, Ota, Meguro, Setagaya	¥1.30 million	¥71.85 million	55.3 m²	28.5 years
North (Johoku)	Bunkyo, Toshima, Kita, Itabashi, Nerima	¥1.12 million	¥60.05 million	53.9 m²	25.7 years
East (Joto)	Taito, Koto, Edogawa, Sumida, Katsushika, Adachi, Arakawa	¥1.01 million	¥56.89 million	56.4 m²	24.7 years
23 wards overall	All of the above	¥1.37 million	¥77.34 million	55.0 m²	25.6 years
Tama area	Rest of Tokyo, excluding the islands	¥0.58 million	¥38.79 million	67.0 m²	27.6 years

These are the statistical areas used by REINS. They may not match how an agent uses "west" or "east": Bunkyo, for example, is counted in the north, and the west has only four wards.^[2] The 23-ward figures are quoted as published. The published price per square meter does not match the average price divided by the average floor area, and the report does not explain the difference.^[1] Figures in the table are rounded; the calculations below use the source values as published, to two decimal places.

A single month is a small sample. The central three wards recorded 238 sales in April 2026, and over the twelve months to April 2026 their monthly average moved between about ¥2.25 million and ¥2.56 million per square meter.^[2] The north and east are close to each other and swapped places in some months; in December 2025, for example, the east averaged about ¥1.09 million per square meter and the north slightly less.^[2] Read the table as a rough ranking of the areas, not as exact gaps.

What ¥100 million buys at average prices, area by area

Dividing ¥100 million by each area's average sold price per square meter in April 2026 gives a rough idea of floor area:^[2]

Central three wards: about 41 m²
West: about 62 m²
South: about 77 m²
North: about 90 m²
East: about 99 m²
23 wards overall: about 73 m²

In the Tama area, the average sold price in April 2026 was ¥38.79 million, for an average of 67.0 m², well below that budget.^[2]

This is simple division at the average, not a description of a particular apartment. It leaves out the costs of buying, and the real answer moves with the building's age, the floor, the distance to the station and the condition of the building. In broad terms, at these averages the same budget points to a compact apartment in the central three wards and noticeably more space in the north and east.

Large differences inside each area

Area averages hide large gaps between wards. REINS's annual report breaks sold prices down by ward. The latest edition, for fiscal 2024 (April 2024 to March 2025), shows the highest- and lowest-priced wards in each area (all three for the central three wards):^[4]

Central three wards: Minato about ¥2.19 million per m², Chiyoda about ¥2.00 million, Chuo about ¥1.75 million
West: Shibuya about ¥1.87 million, Suginami about ¥0.96 million
South: Meguro and Shinagawa about ¥1.38 million each, Ota about ¥0.84 million
East: Koto about ¥1.12 million, Adachi about ¥0.58 million
North: Bunkyo about ¥1.31 million, Itabashi about ¥0.71 million

These figures cover an earlier period than the April 2026 table, so use them to compare wards with each other, not with the table.

Building age matters as well as location

In January to March 2026, resale apartments in the 23 wards that were up to 5 years old sold for an average of about ¥2.24 million per square meter, while those more than 30 years old sold for about ¥0.88 million.^[5] The age groups are also spread differently across the city, so part of that gap reflects location as well as age. When you compare two areas, compare buildings of a similar age; otherwise a difference in age can look like a difference in location. In the table above, the central three wards have the youngest buildings on average.

Asking prices and new builds are different measures

When you browse listings, you see asking prices. In April 2026, resale apartments newly listed in the central three wards had an average asking price of about ¥3.23 million per square meter, while the sales reported there that month averaged ¥2.43 million.^[2] These are different groups of apartments, so the gap does not show how much sellers come down on price. It does show why asking prices and sold prices should not be compared as if they were the same measure.

New builds are measured differently again. In 2025, newly built condominiums released for sale in the 23 wards averaged ¥136.13 million, about ¥2.11 million per square meter.^[3] In the same year, resale apartments that sold in the 23 wards averaged ¥74.01 million, about ¥1.31 million per square meter.^[6] New builds are newer and their locations differ, and their prices are developers' prices, not sold prices.

How prices have moved

In 2025, the average sold price per square meter for resale apartments in the 23 wards was 13.2% higher than in 2024, and April 2026 was 10.1% higher than April 2025.^[6]^[1] Month to month, the average did not move in a straight line: in three of the twelve months to April 2026 it was lower than in the month before.^[1] Part of any change in an average also reflects which apartments happened to sell. These are past movements, not a forecast; prices can level off or fall. For an overseas buyer whose money is in another currency, a change in the exchange rate can also change the cost in that currency even when yen prices stay the same.

What would change this picture

You want a new build. New-build averages in the 23 wards were well above resale averages in 2025, so at those averages the same budget points to less space.
You accept an older building. In the 23 wards, apartments more than 30 years old sold for much less per square meter on average than newer ones, so the same budget can point to more space, with the questions about condition below.
Location matters more than size. The central three wards may still fit your budget if a smaller apartment works for you.
The yen moves sharply. If your budget is held in another currency, its value in yen changes even if Tokyo prices do not.

Questions to ask your agent

What did comparable apartments in the same building or nearby actually sell for, not just what are they listed at?
What are the monthly management fee and repair reserve, and what does the long-term repair plan say?
When was the building's construction approved, which tells you the earthquake design standard it was built to, and has it had a seismic assessment?
What do the ward's hazard maps show for the address?
What will the purchase cost in total on top of the price, and how would a change in the exchange rate affect your budget?

You can browse apartments for sale on our site; each listing shows its own asking price, not the averages above. For the character of each district, see our Tokyo guide.