What does the same SGD budget buy? Osaka vs Tokyo resale condos

The short answer

With S$1m (¥122.8m at today's rate), about S$62,699 goes on Japanese purchase taxes and fees, leaving about ¥115.1m for the flat. At the 2025 median closed price per ㎡, that buys roughly 138㎡ (1,486 sq ft) in central Osaka versus 63㎡ (676 sq ft) in central Tokyo (Minato, Chuo, Chiyoda) — about 2.2× the space in Osaka.

Medians are for all resale condos that closed in 2025, of every size and age. A median is a middle point, not a price for a particular flat; newer, bigger and higher-floor units cost more. Levels use closed prices (成約価格, broker-reported via REINS) only.

Floor area for your budget (2025)

Budget → minus purchase costs → price you can pay → ÷ median ¥/㎡. The range uses the 25th and 75th percentile ¥/㎡ (a cheaper and a pricier flat). 1㎡ = 10.764 sq ft.

Read the big numbers with care. Floor area is budget ÷ median ¥/㎡, a measure of purchasing power. Very large flats are rare and usually cost more per ㎡ than the median, so at S$2m–3m the realistic result in Osaka is a newer, higher-floor or larger-than-typical flat (or more than one), not a single 415㎡ unit at the median price.

For comparison, the median closed resale condo was 65㎡ at ¥51.0m in central Osaka and 60㎡ at ¥110.0m in central Tokyo in 2025.

Japanese purchase costs used

Estimated with the same rules as our Japan property tax calculator: a resale condo bought by a non-resident as a second home. Japan does not charge foreign buyers a higher purchase tax than Japanese buyers; the taxes below apply to anyone. Changes to paperwork for foreign buyers are tracked on our foreign ownership rules tracker.

Assumptions (calculator defaults): land is 30% of the price; assessed values are 70% (land) and 60% (building) of those parts — the real figures are on the property's tax certificate and are often lower, which lowers the taxes. A second home is not “housing” for acquisition tax, so no ¥12m deduction and 4% on the building. Not included: currency conversion and remittance fees, mortgage costs, fire insurance, repair-fund lump sums, and yearly property tax. Reduced rates apply to purchases until the dates in the calculator (mostly 2027-03-31).

Main stations by ward (2025), S$ per sq ft

The stations with the most closed resale-condo sales in 2025 in each ward (at least 15 sales), by the station MLIT lists as nearest. Median price per ㎡ of floor area.

Chuo (Osaka) 大阪市中央区

Kita (Osaka) 大阪市北区

Nishi (Osaka) 大阪市西区

Naniwa (Osaka) 大阪市浪速区

Minato (Tokyo) 港区

Chuo (Tokyo) 中央区

Chiyoda (Tokyo) 千代田区

2021→2025: yen prices up, the yen down

Median ¥/㎡ of closed resale-condo sales, 2021 vs 2025. The S$ column converts each year at that year's average ECB rate (S$1 = ¥81.75 in 2021, ¥114.53 in 2025), so it shows what the change looked like to someone holding Singapore dollars. The yen fell about 29% against the S$ over the period.

Singapore, same period: URA's price index for private non-landed homes rose +29% (2021 average 161.1 → 2025 average 207.2); in the Core Central Region, +17% (136.0 → 159.4). Source: URA, Private Residential Time Series Statistics (Property Price Index of Non-Landed Residential Properties, overall and Core Central Region, quarterly; read 2026-09-29). This is an index of changes, not a price per sq ft, and it is built differently from the Japanese medians above (URA adjusts for the mix of homes sold; a median does not), so compare directions, not decimals.

The other MLIT series: buyer survey (shown separately)

MLIT also publishes prices from a questionnaire sent to buyers (不動産取引価格情報, 取引価格・アンケート). It covers many of the same sales, so it is never added to the closed prices above. It includes more small studio flats, so its medians behave differently. Median ¥/㎡, resale condos:

Why Singaporeans look at Japan

In Singapore, Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty is 20% for a citizen's second residential property and 60% for foreigners (IRAS, ABSD rates). Japan has no equivalent surcharge; the costs above are the whole purchase-tax picture. Japan has its own points to check — yearly property tax, income tax on rent, a 10.21% withholding when a non-resident sells, and building management fees — covered in the calculator and the buyer's guide.

How we calculated this

• Records: MLIT 不動産情報ライブラリ CSV downloads, type 中古マンション等 (resale condominiums), sales flagged as between related parties, auctions/mediation or adjoining-land purchases removed. ¥/㎡ = price ÷ floor area.
• Level figures (budget table, stations, 2021→2025 change): closed prices (成約価格情報, from REINS, published by MLIT from 2021). The buyer survey is shown only in its own table.
• Percentiles: 25th/75th, linear interpolation. Stations: nearest station as recorded by MLIT, 2025 sales only, at least 15 sales.
• Budget → price: solved so that price + estimated purchase costs = budget converted at the ECB rate of 2026-09-28.
• Singapore figures are URA index values, not MLIT data, and are not combined with them.

Source: MLIT Real Estate Information Library (processed by Japan House Prices). https://www.reinfolib.mlit.go.jp/ — 出典：国土交通省 不動産情報ライブラリ（https://www.reinfolib.mlit.go.jp/）のデータを加工して作成. Original content: transaction prices (不動産取引価格情報) and contract prices (成約価格情報). We filtered, grouped and took medians of the published records; the resulting figures are our own and are not published or endorsed by MLIT (国土交通省). Singapore index: Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Exchange rates: ECB euro foreign exchange reference rates of 2026-09-28 (S$1 = ¥122.78) and yearly averages. Past transaction prices do not predict future prices; this page is not a valuation, an offer of property, or investment, tax or legal advice. Last reviewed 2026-09.