The office vacancy rate in central Tokyo fell in July for the first time in two and half years, according to consulting and planning agency Miki Shoji. The improvement was modest at best — the average vacancy rate for five central wards in Tokyo fell 0.04 percentage point from June to 9.10%.
Still, investors seized on the slimly positive news, bidding up shares of real-estate companies. Mitsui Fudosan was up 5.7%, Mitsubishi Estate up 5.5% and Nomura Real Estate Holdings up 7%. “Once office vacancies bottom, a moderate recovery will likely continue for some time,” says Naoki Fujiwara, fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management. The Nikkei Stock Average was up 1.7%.
Mr. Fujwara cautioned that average rents will likely take much longer to show signs of recovery. “Rent (increase) contributions to profits are still far off, but at least we are finally starting to see some hope,” he said.
source: blogs.wsj.com
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