REAL ESTATE NEWS
By Thomas Shomaker
Photos: Aaron Jamieson (TOP), Paul Malandain, Niseko Property
Niseko’s administrative hub Kutchan is in the midst of an ongoing increase in property values, which kicked off several years ago as accommodation and service demand from Niseko spilled over.
Accelerating this trend is the ongoing Hokkaido expansion of Japan’s famous bullet train network (Shinkansen) which will connect Kutchan Station to high-speed rail in 2030, potentially in time for that year’s Winter Olympics which Sapporo is bidding for.
As the area’s largest population center, Kutchan has long served as the de facto service town for the Niseko resort community, hosting government offices, everyday shops and even a Self-Defense Force base.
Niseko Property Director Grant Mitchell said that a few years ago, this proximity kicked off an ongoing increase in Kutchan property values as Niseko development and the concurrent rising resort prices reached a critical level.
“With a lot of big hotels being built there is a lot more staff needed and there wasn’t much staff accommodation (in the resorts),” Mitchell said.
”There was a big gap between what the market provided and what was needed.
Grant MitchellNiseko Property Director
Kutchan Potato Festival in the main street in front of the station | Photo: Paul Malandain
Kutchan property values begin to rise
“It was really the Japanese that picked up that there was a demand and it wasn’t being filled,” said Grant, referring to Niseko service staff accommodations.
He said foreign buyers had been mostly interested in the commercial areas around the station, anticipating the coming bullet train and the resultant human traffic.
“There are a lot of people buying old, run-down buildings and then just keeping them,” said Mitchell.
He said the recent rise in rental prices allowed a decent yield on these buildings, typically around 8%. Therefore, a lot of buyers don’t want just land, they want a building that they can make a return on now, and later redevelop or sell for profit.
Bullet train acceleration
Mitchell said until five years ago most people didn’t pay attention to Kutchan, but Niseko Property had always had a strong focus there, with the largest number of listings for the town among local real estate companies.
”For me, the knowledge that there was going to be a Shinkansen station, it just gave a bit of a basis for my confidence about the area.
Existing station and Ekimae Dori (Kutchan main street) | Photo: Niseko Property
Currently, the travel time to Niseko from Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport, by rail or road, can be impacted by bad weather. But since a ‘Rapid Airport Express’ line links Sapporo station to the airport, when the bullet train arrives inclement weather will rarely affect travel time to Niseko.
“Having the Shinkansen will let people come directly from large population centers, like Tokyo,” said Mitchell, referring to domestic travel.
“That will increase numbers enormously, which means that suddenly you have a Japanese domestic market booming. That’ll help accommodation, restaurants, the whole area.”
The Sapporo 2030 Olympic bid
Sapporo is currently bidding for the 2030 Winter Olympics, and Niseko has been earmarked to host the downhill events if the bid is successful.
It’s hoped the Shinkansen will be completed in time for this.
The bullet train will cut train travel time from Sapporo to Kutchan from 2 hours to 25 minutes, and like with the first bullet train which opened ahead of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, would display Japanese technology to the world.
You might also be interested in…
Real Estate Listings
Invest in Life… Powderlife
Subscribe
Sign up to receive Powderlife and Summerlife Digital Magazines as they are published and select other topics that interests you.