Why billionaire is building own house in Tokyo

[TOKYO] Billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, Japan's fourth- richest man, is building a house in central Tokyo that is estimated to cost at least 2.3 billion yen (S$26.8 million), underscoring a shortage in the city's luxury housing market.

The two-storey house is on an 880-square-metre (9,472-square-foot) site in an exclusive neighbourhood in Shibuya ward, according to a registration filing with the Legal Affairs Bureau. Land prices in the neighbourhood have risen 20 per cent this year, broker Century 21 Sky Realty estimated.

"There are few luxury homes for sale at the moment," said Yukiko Takano, manager of internati…