What Can Your Budget Buy in Tokyo? Explore the Tokyo Home Budget Map
Before you start viewing properties in Tokyo, it helps to understand how your budget, preferred size, and choice of location fit together.
A budget that feels comfortable for one area may require a different approach in another. You may need to consider a smaller apartment, a different property type, or a neighborhood you had not originally included.
To help you explore these choices, I’m introducing the Tokyo Home Budget Map: an interactive tool in English that compares indicative historical price ranges across central Tokyo and nearby wards.
Start with three simple inputs
Enter your:
Purchase budget in Japanese yen.
Property type: a resale condominium, resale house, or new/nearly new house.
Preferred size in square meters.
The map then shows how your budget compares with the historical price range for each ward, where sufficient data is available.
You can adjust your budget or preferred size, filter the results, and add wards to a shortlist. This gives you a starting point for deciding where to focus your property search.
Compare central Tokyo and nearby areas
The tool covers 12 wards:
Central Tokyo: Minato, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chuo, Shinjuku, and Bunkyo.
Nearby areas: Shinagawa, Meguro, Setagaya, Koto, Taito, and Toshima.
The map is a schematic comparison of wards, rather than a detailed
neighborhood or navigation map. Prices and living environments can vary considerably within the same ward, so the results are a first step toward a more specific search.
For an introduction to several central Tokyo areas, read Where Should Foreigners Buy Property in Tokyo?.
Try a simple budget exercise
For example, start with a ¥100 million budget, select resale condominium, and enter 70 m².
Compare the results, then try changing the size to 60 m² while keeping the same budget. You can also try increasing the budget to ¥110 million and compare again.
These small adjustments help you explore the trade-offs between location, space, and spending before you commit to a search.
Add the wards that interest you to your shortlist, then copy your criteria and selected areas before leaving the page. You can share them with me when discussing your plans.
Understand the price data
The tool uses publicly available transaction survey data from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), through its Real Estate Information Library.
Transaction period: January 2025–March 2026.
Source release used: July 29, 2026.
Data retrieved and tool updated: October 4, 2026.
The displayed ranges represent the middle 50% of eligible historical transactions selected by ward, property type, and floor area.
Condominium figures are adjusted to your selected size; house figures compare total land-and-building prices for homes of similar floor area. Where too few records are available, the tool shows “Limited data.”
“New/nearly new house” refers to a recorded building age of zero to two years at the time of the transaction; it does not confirm that a property was unoccupied.
These prices are guides, not current listings, appraisals, or guarantees of availability. Individual properties may fall outside the ranges, and the figures have not been adjusted for subsequent market changes.
Your input budget covers the property price only. Allow separately for purchase costs, taxes, renovation, and ongoing ownership expenses.
Turn your comparison into a property search
The map helps you organize your priorities. The next step is to compare available properties with your preferred location, layout, building condition, and purchase timeline.
As a Tokyo native and English-speaking real estate broker with experience in both Tokyo and New York, I help international buyers work through these decisions with clear, practical guidance.
Ready to discuss your options? Share your budget, preferred size, shortlisted areas, and intended purchase timeline. I’ll help you assess what is feasible in the current market and plan your next steps.
Discuss Your Budget and Preferred Areas
Aki Shimizu
Licensed Real Estate Agent
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