Record low mortgage rates in Japan may lure back buyers

Tokyo

MORTGAGE rates in Japan have fallen to record lows, bolstering forecasts for a rebound in the residential market dented by April's sales tax increase.

Bank of Japan stimulus will revive the 180 trillion yen (US$2.01 trillion) mortgage market, Mizuho Securities Co and JPMorgan Chase & Co forecast. Japan Housing Finance Agency's 35-year fixed rate loan set a record low of 1.47 per cent this month. The benchmark 10-year bond yield reached an unprecedented 0.265 per cent on Tuesday, 172 basis points less than the similar US Treasury yield.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group president Nobuyuki Hirano said on Jan 5 that the economy will improve this year, as Japan's three biggest banks cut their 10-year mortgage rates to a record 1.15 per cent this month. Sekisui House, the nation's second-biggest builder, said in a statement this month it sees signs of housing market recovery. Developers in Tokyo may increase the num…