Is now a good time to buy property in Hiroshima?

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Is now a good time to buy property in Hiroshima?

Yes, but only if we buy very selectively in Hiroshima today.

The case for buying has improved in some parts of the city. Central land values are still moving up, Hiroshima Station has just gone through a major redevelopment cycle, tourism has reached new records, and households are concentrating in the better-connected parts of the city. At the same time, Hiroshima's population is shrinking, borrowing costs are higher than they were a few years ago, and cheap property on the outskirts can stay cheap for a very long time.

That split defines Hiroshima now. We would seriously consider central Naka Ward, the Hiroshima Station side of Minami Ward and some well-connected parts of Nishi Ward. We would be much more reluctant to buy older property in peripheral neighborhoods simply because the asking price looks low.

What is actually happening to Hiroshima property prices right now?

Hiroshima property prices are still rising in good locations, although the citywide market has become much less uniform.

The latest official land-price data continue to show gains across several established residential areas. In central Hiroshima, desirable locations around Naka, Minami and Nishi wards have kept appreciating while weaker locations further from stations and services have struggled to keep pace.

The new-condo market gives us a useful counterpoint. Haseko Research Institute found that Hiroshima City supplied 1,040 new condominium units in 2025, up by 233 units from the previous year. The average selling price, however, slipped 2.3% to ¥52.48 million.

That fall looks more dramatic than it really was. Haseko found that Hiroshima had fewer projects within walking distance of Hiroshima Station and Hatchobori, two of the city's most expensive locations. In other words, the composition of what developers sold changed.

The earlier move was much stronger. Hiroshima's average new-condo price had jumped 31.8% in 2024 to ¥53.72 million, while the average price per square meter rose 10.4%. The latest decline therefore looks more like a pause after a sharp repricing than evidence of a broad crash.

Hiroshima market measure	Recent level	Change	What we take from it
New condos supplied	1,040 units	+233 units YoY	Supply recovered
Average new-condo price	¥52.48m	-2.3% YoY	Price growth paused
Previous-year average price	¥53.72m	+31.8% YoY	The prior jump was unusually large
Previous-year price per m²	¥752,000	+10.4% YoY	Construction and land costs had already repriced

Is Hiroshima still cheap enough to make buying attractive?

Hiroshima is still cheap beside Tokyo, but that comparison alone can make mediocre Hiroshima property look better than it really is.

An average new Hiroshima condominium at roughly ¥52 million obviously looks inexpensive beside new family apartments in central Tokyo that often sell above ¥100 million. Hiroshima also remains cheaper than many of the strongest neighborhoods in Osaka and parts of Fukuoka.

Local rents are much lower too, however.

Current portal data put typical Hiroshima City asking rents around ¥70,000 a month for a 1LDK, roughly ¥72,000 for a 2LDK and around ¥80,000 for a 3LDK across the broader city market. Central Naka Ward commands much more, with recent LIFULL HOME'S figures around ¥92,000 for a 1LDK and roughly ¥133,000 for a 2LDK.

So we would judge Hiroshima prices against Hiroshima rents rather than Tokyo prices.

A ¥30 million apartment renting for ¥95,000 a month can make sense. A ¥50 million apartment producing ¥120,000 may look cheap beside Tokyo while still giving us weak investment economics.

Is Hiroshima's shrinking population already hurting the property market?

Hiroshima's population decline is already separating strong neighborhoods from weak ones.

The latest census figures put Hiroshima City's population at roughly 1.17 million, down from about 1.20 million five years earlier. The city lost around 28,000 residents, or roughly 2.4%, over that period.

Yet Naka Ward moved in the opposite direction. Its population increased from 142,699 to 144,267.

That small gain tells us a lot. Hiroshima is losing residents overall while some households continue moving toward the urban core.

We see the same pattern in official land appraisals, which repeatedly describe firm demand in convenient flat urban neighborhoods and weaker prospects in areas affected by aging, declining populations and poorer accessibility.

For a 10- or 15-year purchase, this matters enormously. We are much more comfortable owning an apartment where Hiroshima's remaining households are concentrating than owning a house in a neighborhood gradually losing buyers.

Does Hiroshima have too many empty homes?

Yes, Hiroshima has a lot of vacant housing, and buyers should take the 11.7% citywide vacancy rate seriously.

The latest Housing and Land Survey counted about 73,700 vacant homes among 628,800 dwellings in Hiroshima City. The vacancy rate was 11.7%, only slightly below 11.9% five years earlier.

The ward figures vary sharply. Naka Ward stood at 14.6%, Higashi Ward at 14.5% and Asakita Ward at 14.2%, while Asaminami Ward was only 7.4%.

Those numbers need some interpretation. Central wards contain far more rented apartments, temporarily vacant units and investor-owned housing, so a high statistical vacancy rate does not automatically mean there are no tenants. Conversely, a low vacancy rate in a suburban ward tells us little about what resale demand will look like 15 years from now.

The more worrying number is that Hiroshima still has roughly the same 74,000 empty homes despite years of population decline. Plenty of housing already exists, which makes scarcity highly local.

Ward	Total homes	Vacant homes	Vacancy rate
Naka	96,480	14,070	14.6%
Higashi	62,200	9,010	14.5%
Minami	80,840	10,060	12.4%
Nishi	106,740	12,750	11.9%
Asaminami	117,060	8,620	7.4%
Asakita	67,320	9,590	14.2%
Hiroshima City	628,800	73,700	11.7%

Is property near Hiroshima Station still worth paying extra for?

Yes, good property near Hiroshima Station deserves a premium today, although buyers should assume that plenty of the redevelopment story is already in the price.

The new station building has changed this part of Hiroshima substantially. The complex covers roughly 111,000 square meters, rises 20 floors and combines retail, hotels and transport infrastructure. The new streetcar route also brings trams directly into the station building.

That last point may prove more important for property than the shopping facilities. Hiroshima Station historically sat somewhat apart from Hatchobori, Kamiyacho and the traditional city center. Better streetcar and pedestrian connections make the station side more usable for everyday urban life.

We would pay more for an apartment that is genuinely walkable to Hiroshima Station, particularly on the Minami Ward side.

We would be careful with developments farther away that use the station redevelopment mainly as a marketing hook. A 15-minute or 20-minute trip is still a 15-minute or 20-minute trip after the station gets nicer.

Will Hiroshima Station overtake Hatchobori as the city's best property area?

Probably not. Hiroshima Station and Hatchobori now look more useful as two ends of the same central corridor.

Hatchobori, Kamiyacho and the surrounding parts of Naka Ward still have Hiroshima's deepest concentration of offices, restaurants, shops and urban services. Hiroshima Station has become much stronger for transport, new retail and residential development.

Better tram connections now make movement between the two easier.

For buyers, the two areas are basically different versions of the same bet on central Hiroshima. Apartments near Hiroshima Station benefit from transport and redevelopment. Property around Hatchobori and Kamiyacho benefits from established central-city scarcity. Locations between those areas can work when they offer genuine walkability and easy streetcar access.

The exact street increasingly matters more than the ward name.

Can a Hiroshima rental property still give a good yield?

Yes, but Hiroshima rental yields are only attractive when the purchase price stays disciplined.

Consider a central 1LDK renting for roughly ¥92,000 a month. Annual rent comes to about ¥1.10 million. At a ¥25 million purchase price, the gross yield is roughly 4.4%. Pay ¥32 million for exactly the same rent and the yield falls to around 3.4%.

A central 2LDK renting for around ¥133,000 a month produces roughly ¥1.60 million a year. That works out to about 4.6% gross at ¥35 million and only 3.6% at ¥45 million.

We would generally want something around 4% gross or better before getting interested in a normal Hiroshima investment apartment. Management charges, repair-reserve contributions, property tax, insurance, vacancy and occasional repairs then eat into that headline return.

New developments are harder. If a roughly ¥52.5 million new condominium rents for ¥145,000 a month, the gross yield is only about 3.3%.

At today's financing costs, paying too much upfront is difficult to recover later.

Example	Purchase price	Monthly rent	Gross yield
Central 1LDK	¥25m	¥92,000	4.4%
Central 1LDK	¥32m	¥92,000	3.4%
Central 2LDK	¥35m	¥133,000	4.6%
Central 2LDK	¥45m	¥133,000	3.6%
Newer condo example	¥52.5m	¥145,000	3.3%

Are Hiroshima rents rising fast enough to support today's property prices?

No, Hiroshima rents currently give buyers much less room for error than rising land values might suggest.

Central neighborhoods clearly earn a premium. A Naka Ward 1LDK can ask around ¥92,000 a month compared with roughly ¥70,000 across Hiroshima City more broadly. A central 2LDK can be closer to ¥133,000, well above the broader-city figure.

That gap confirms that tenants value central Hiroshima.

But rents have not risen nearly enough to make any central purchase price acceptable. Official valuation reports already show cases where transaction-based land values sit above values justified purely by rental income. Buyers are paying for scarcity, future resale value and owner-occupier demand as well as the rent itself.

For an investor, we would rather buy an ordinary apartment at a good price than chase the most prestigious address in Hiroshima regardless of yield.

Will higher Japanese interest rates push Hiroshima property prices down?

Higher interest rates should cool Hiroshima property demand, and this is one reason we would negotiate harder now than a few years ago.

Japanese borrowers no longer live in the near-zero-rate environment that shaped the previous property cycle. Variable mortgage offers have moved higher, fixed rates have risen much more visibly, and investment loans typically cost more than owner-occupier mortgages.

That matters in Hiroshima because gross rental yields are often around 3% to 5%.

Take a ¥35 million apartment generating around ¥1.6 million in annual rent. The gross yield is roughly 4.6%. Once building charges, taxes, vacancy and maintenance come out, the actual return can drop close to the cost of debt for a leveraged buyer.

There is also an effect on ordinary homeowners. A household that can comfortably finance ¥50 million at a very low interest rate cannot necessarily borrow the same amount when mortgage costs rise.

We expect that pressure to limit how quickly Hiroshima prices can keep climbing. It gives buyers more bargaining power, particularly outside the best addresses, but so far it has not produced a broad collapse in central land values.

Should we buy a new condo or an older apartment in Hiroshima?

For investment, we would usually choose a good 10- to 20-year-old Hiroshima condominium over an expensive new one.

New Hiroshima condos have obvious advantages. Modern earthquake standards, lower immediate repair risk, attractive interiors and newer building facilities make them easier to understand and often easier to rent.

The price premium is the problem.

Hiroshima's new-condo average remains above ¥50 million even after the latest modest decline. A resale apartment can cost dramatically less while competing for many of the same tenants.

The discount becomes particularly large as buildings age. Recent transaction data for Hiroshima Prefecture show prices per square meter dropping substantially between nearly new apartments, units around 10 years old and units around 20 years old.

Rent normally declines much more slowly than the purchase price.

An older unit can become interesting here, provided the condominium association is healthy. Before buying, we would check the repair-reserve balance, major works already completed, monthly fees, planned assessments, earthquake standard, unpaid fees and how many units are rented out.

An attractive apartment inside a badly managed building is still a bad purchase.

Approximate building age	Recent resale price per m²	Our view
Nearly new	~¥710,000	Strong product, expensive entry
Around 10 years	~¥620,000	Often still expensive
Around 20 years	~¥321,000	Much more interesting
30+ years	~¥216,000	Cheap, but building risk becomes critical

Is Hiroshima's tourism boom actually helping property?

Yes, Hiroshima's latest tourism numbers strengthen the case for central property, although tourism alone would never convince us to buy a weak location.

Hiroshima City recorded 14.76 million visitors in 2025, up 2.9% and the highest figure since the city began keeping the series. Foreign visitors reached 2.561 million, also a record.

The more interesting numbers sit underneath the headline.

Overnight visitors reached 7.115 million, up 2.2%. Tourism spending climbed 5.1% to ¥421.3 billion. Spending per visitor increased to ¥28,540.

Compare that with 2019: Hiroshima received about 14.27 million visitors then, so total visitor numbers today are only a few percent higher. Yet tourism spending has risen from roughly ¥248.5 billion to ¥421.3 billion, an increase of about 70%.

Visitors are therefore worth much more to Hiroshima's economy than they were before the pandemic.

That benefits hotels, restaurants, retail, employment and the broader city-center economy around Hiroshima Station, Peace Memorial Park, Hatchobori and Kamiyacho. It adds another source of demand to the same central neighborhoods already benefiting from local household concentration.

Hiroshima tourism measure	2019	2025	Change
Visitors	14.27m	14.76m	+3%
Overnight visitors	6.03m	7.12m	+18%
Tourism spending	¥248.5bn	¥421.3bn	+70%
Spending per visitor	¥17,410	¥28,540	+64%
Foreign visitors	—	2.56m	Record level

Which parts of Hiroshima would we actually buy in now?

We would currently focus on central Naka Ward, the Hiroshima Station side of Minami Ward and selected rail-connected parts of Nishi Ward.

Naka Ward has the clearest long-term demand story. Its population increased even while Hiroshima City as a whole lost residents, and it contains the city's strongest concentration of employment, retail and entertainment.

The Hiroshima Station side of Minami Ward is our other obvious candidate. The station redevelopment and new streetcar connection have materially improved accessibility, while JR and Shinkansen access make this one of the easiest locations to resell to people moving into Hiroshima.

Nishi Ward can offer better value. Yokogawa is particularly interesting because it combines JR, streetcar and bus access with quick connections to the center. Shin-Inokuchi and established neighborhoods around the western rail and tram corridors can also work when the purchase price is sensible.

We become much more cautious once a property depends heavily on cars, hillside access or a shrinking local neighborhood.

A cheap house 40 minutes from the center can cost half as much as a central apartment and still be the worse investment.

Hiroshima location	Our view now	Main reason	Main concern
Central Naka Ward	Strong	Jobs, services, central demand	Expensive
Hiroshima Station / Minami	Strong	Transport and redevelopment	Premium already substantial
Yokogawa	Attractive	Excellent connectivity	Good stock sells quickly
Western Nishi corridors	Selective	Better entry prices	Quality varies street by street
Transit-rich Asaminami	Selective	Large residential base	Weaker central scarcity
Peripheral hillside suburbs	Weak	Cheap	Demographics and resale risk

How dangerous is flood or landslide risk when buying in Hiroshima?

Natural-hazard risk can completely change whether a particular Hiroshima property is worth buying.

Hiroshima's geography creates two very different problems. Much of central Hiroshima lies on flat river-delta land, so some neighborhoods face river flooding, inland-water flooding or storm-surge exposure. Move toward the surrounding hills and landslide risk becomes much more relevant.

Hiroshima City publishes detailed flood, tsunami, storm-surge and landslide hazard maps, and we would check them for the exact parcel before making an offer.

The building itself also changes the calculation. A high-floor condominium in a flood-risk district creates a very different practical problem from a detached house at ground level, while a hillside property sitting inside a designated landslide zone deserves a substantial discount regardless of how good the view is.

In Hiroshima, two properties only a few streets apart can carry very different physical risks. We would never rely on the neighborhood name alone.

Can foreigners buy Hiroshima property without much trouble?

Yes, foreigners can buy and fully own Hiroshima property, but financing and transaction costs make the process less straightforward than the ownership rules suggest.

Japan generally allows foreigners to own land, houses and condominiums directly. There is no national requirement for permanent residency just to register ownership, and Japan does not impose the foreign-ownership quotas found in several other Asian property markets.

Financing is the harder part.

Non-residents and foreigners without permanent residency, stable Japanese income or strong local banking relationships can have far fewer mortgage choices. A cash buyer and a foreign buyer who needs 80% Japanese financing may therefore reach completely different conclusions about the same Hiroshima apartment.

Closing costs also deserve attention. Brokerage fees, registration taxes, real-estate acquisition tax, judicial-scrivener fees and other charges can add several percentage points to the purchase price.

That immediately makes short-term flipping unattractive in most cases.

For a foreign buyer, we would approach Hiroshima as a five- to ten-year holding at minimum. Buying for only two or three years leaves too little time for appreciation and rental income to absorb the round-trip costs.

Should we wait for Hiroshima property prices to fall?

We would not wait for a citywide Hiroshima property crash because the better neighborhoods may never give us that opportunity.

Higher interest rates and population decline should put pressure on weaker property. We expect that to create more negotiation room, especially for older apartments and houses away from major transport.

Central Hiroshima follows a tougher supply equation.

Good sites near Hiroshima Station, Hatchobori, Kamiyacho, Yokogawa and other established nodes cannot simply be created in response to demand. Construction costs remain high too, which makes it difficult for developers to bring new apartments to market at dramatically lower prices.

The latest new-condo figures make the point. Average prices fell 2.3%, but Haseko linked that decline largely to where new projects were being sold. Hiroshima suddenly had fewer units within walking distance of its most expensive central stations.

We would therefore negotiate individual properties aggressively today rather than make the whole strategy depend on a future citywide correction.

What kind of Hiroshima property would we refuse to buy today?

We would walk away quickly from low-yield apartments, weak buildings and suburban property whose main attraction is a cheap price.

An investment condo producing only 2.5% or 3% gross needs an exceptional reason to justify itself now. The margin becomes too thin after building charges, taxes, repairs and vacancy.

An older condominium with an underfunded repair reserve creates another clear red flag. Large façade, elevator, waterproofing or structural works eventually have to be paid for, whether the current owner has budgeted for them or not.

Peripheral detached houses worry us for a different reason. Hiroshima's population trajectory means some suburban areas will have fewer buyers in the future. A ¥15 million house can therefore be more expensive economically than a ¥30 million central apartment if the house becomes extremely difficult to sell.

We would also reject a property with serious flood or landslide exposure unless the price clearly compensates us for that risk.

We want existing demand to justify the purchase. We do not want to depend on someone paying substantially more for the same weak asset later.

So, is now a good time to buy property in Hiroshima?

Yes, we think now is a good time to buy good Hiroshima property, while average or peripheral property deserves much more skepticism.

Several current numbers support that distinction. Hiroshima City's population fell by roughly 28,000 people over the latest five-year census period, yet Naka Ward still gained residents. The city has around 74,000 vacant homes, while central and transport-rich locations continue to command higher land values. New-condo prices stopped rising last year, but the decline partly came from fewer prime-location launches rather than collapsing demand.

Tourism adds another layer. As seen above, Hiroshima now receives a similar number of visitors to 2019 but generates roughly 70% more tourism spending. The rebuilt Hiroshima Station and its new tram connection have also improved the city's most important transport node.

Financing has become less forgiving, though. Higher Japanese interest rates make mediocre yields harder to accept, and Hiroshima's long-run demographic outlook gives us no reason to chase marginal locations.

For someone buying a home and planning to stay at least seven to ten years, we would be comfortable buying today in a strong central or transit-connected neighborhood at a sensible price.

For an investor, we would want roughly 4% gross yield or better, a healthy condominium association, easy access to transport and a purchase price that works without assuming rapid appreciation.

For someone looking at outer Hiroshima because ¥10 million or ¥15 million houses appear incredibly cheap, we would usually pass.

Hiroshima currently rewards location much more than timing. We would rather buy the right property now than wait several years hoping every part of the city becomes cheaper.

Who is the author of this content?

BAMBOOROUTES

A team specialized in real estate investing in APAC countries (Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, etc.).

We are a team of financial experts, legal professionals, developers, and local real estate specialists dedicated to helping people like you avoid mistakes when investing in real estate in a foreign place, particularly in Hiroshima. If you’d like to learn more about us, you can check our presentation page.