What It Costs to Buy a House in Japan

Every article about cheap Japanese houses quotes the purchase price and stops. The purchase price is the number you negotiate; it is not the number you pay. Here is everything else, in the order it lands, with a real purchase we completed in 2026 worked through at the end so you can see how the lines add up.

Nothing on this page is specific to foreigners. A Japanese buyer pays exactly the same.

At contract

The deposit. Around 10 percent of the price, paid to the seller when the contract is signed. It's applied to the price at settlement, and if you walk away without cause you forfeit it.

Stamp duty. A revenue stamp on the contract itself. On a purchase between ¥5 million and ¥10 million it's ¥5,000 under the current reduced rate; on cheaper properties less. Trivial, but it has to be there.

Our fee, if you're using us. ¥220,000 per purchase, or ¥180,000 for returning clients, due before we submit an offer and refundable if the purchase doesn't complete. It covers everything from the first enquiry to the keys, including full translation of the contract and the explanation of important matters, one contract signing in Greater Tokyo, coordination of the agent and scrivener through to the keys, arranging the building insurance, and getting the utilities connected in your name so the house is live on day one. The bills then go to you, or to whoever you name as your representative. The tax representative appointments and the domestic contact on the title are part of our annual representation rather than the purchase fee, and a friend in Japan or your accountant can take those roles instead. We don't charge consumption tax on it.

At settlement

The balance of the price. Everything above the deposit, transferred to the seller. Nearly all of our clients send it from overseas, and the exchange rate and fees on that transfer are a real cost in their own right. We suggest Wise for it: mid-market rate, a transparent fee, and yen landing in a Japanese account. That's our referral link, and you're welcome to go direct instead.

Brokerage. Paid to the agent. Since the 2024 rule change, the fee on properties under ¥8 million is ¥330,000 including tax, a fixed figure regardless of whether the house cost ¥500,000 or ¥7.9 million. Above ¥8 million, it's 3 percent of the price plus ¥60,000, plus consumption tax. Two things worth knowing: on a very cheap house the brokerage can be the biggest cost in the deal, and if the seller is a wholesaler selling directly there is no agent and therefore no brokerage at all, which changes the comparison between listings more than people expect.

The judicial scrivener and title registration. The scrivener is the licensed professional who registers the property in your name at the Legal Affairs Bureau on settlement day. Their own fee is typically around ¥80,000. The registration licence tax is then billed on top through the same invoice. That tax is calculated on the government-assessed value of the land and building, not the price you paid, so it varies from property to property, and the combined scrivener bill usually lands somewhere between ¥120,000 and ¥250,000.

Prorated fixed asset tax. The seller has already paid the year's property tax. You reimburse them for your share, counted from the handover date. On low-value houses this is a few tens of thousands of yen.

Six months later

Real estate acquisition tax. A one-off prefectural tax that arrives by post some months after the purchase, billed on the assessed value rather than the price. The rate is 3 percent for residential property and 4 percent for non-residential, and reductions often apply to older homes and to residential land, sometimes reducing the bill to nothing. Because it's calculated on assessed value, which for an old house is usually far below what you paid, the bill is generally smaller than the percentage suggests. It comes from the prefecture, not the town, so a non-resident owner needs a separate tax representative appointment with the prefectural tax office before it arrives, or it goes to an empty house.

A real purchase, line by line

A ¥7 million purchase we completed in 2026. The figures are the actual invoices.

Item	Paid to	Amount
Deposit at contract	Seller	¥1,200,000
Revenue stamp on the contract	Stamp duty	¥5,000
Balance at settlement	Seller	¥5,800,000
Prorated fixed asset tax, 186 days	Seller	¥54,745
Brokerage (¥300,000 plus tax)	Agent	¥330,000
Scrivener: fee ¥66,440 incl. tax, registration licence tax ¥157,700, registry fees and postage ¥4,860	Judicial scrivener	¥229,000
Total paid for the property		¥7,618,745
Property Pilot Japan fee (standard rate)	PPJ	¥220,000
All-in at settlement		¥7,838,745

So a ¥7 million house cost ¥7.84 million to own, with the acquisition tax still to come by post. The brokerage and scrivener lines together came to ¥559,000, right in the ¥450,000 to ¥580,000 band we quote for anything under ¥8 million. On a ¥1 million house those two lines would be much the same, which is why the all-in cost of a very cheap property is often 150 percent of its price.

Not in the table because it wasn't part of the transaction: building insurance, and the travel cost of a site visit before the offer. Both are worth budgeting.

The costs that hide behind the price

Two items that aren't fees but catch more buyers than any fee does.

Contents. Inherited houses are frequently sold with everything still inside, removal at the buyer's cost. Professional clearance of a full 90 to 100 square metre house runs ¥300,000 to ¥600,000. On a sub-million-yen purchase it can rival the price.

The house itself. A roof, a bathroom, a hot water system. We get quotes before you commit, not after, so that the number you decide on is the real one.

Once you own it

The running costs are low by international standards. Three things to plan for.

Fixed asset tax and city planning tax. The annual local property tax: 1.4 percent of the government-assessed value, plus around 0.3 percent city planning tax in designated urban areas. Bills arrive each spring and can be paid in four instalments or as a lump sum. On the ¥7 million property above, the annual bill is about ¥107,000, and on the older, cheaper houses many of our clients buy it is often under ¥30,000.

Tax representatives, three of them. Owners living outside Japan must appoint someone in Japan to receive and pay their tax bills, and because the property tax, the acquisition tax and income tax belong to three different levels of government, that means three separate appointments with three separate offices. A friend in Japan can hold all three. Our annual representation covers them, along with a domestic mailing address and utility administration, for ¥60,000 a year across up to three properties. The full guide is here.

Utilities, insurance and upkeep. Standing charges for electricity and water even when the house is empty, fire insurance, and a sensible maintenance budget. Older houses stay healthy when someone keeps an eye on the small things, which is a large part of what our post-purchase service is for.

If you rent it out

Rental income earned in Japan is taxable in Japan whether or not you live here, at progressive rates starting at 5 percent on the net income, filed by 15 March each year. Where the tenant is a company, 20.42 percent is withheld from the gross rent at source; individual residential tenants are generally exempt from withholding. Short-term letting is a separate subject with its own rules, covered in the minpaku guide.

The honest summary

Add ¥450,000 to ¥580,000 to any purchase under ¥8 million for the professionals and the registration, plus a small stamp, plus your share of the year's tax. Expect a modest acquisition tax bill about six months in. Budget for contents clearance and repairs before you decide, not after. And remember that on the cheapest houses the price is the smallest number in the deal.

Want the numbers on a specific listing? Send it over and we'll run them for you.