Asia’s leading alpine resort destination Niseko is igniting the imagination of both overseas, and a rising number of Japanese large-scale investors. Back of soaring property prices, a new tourism storyline is emerging, highlighted by the soon to open Park Hyatt Hanazono.
Taking a look at C9 Hotelworks new Niseko Tourism and Property Market Review, the incoming development pipeline includes the legendary ultra-luxury Aman brand in Moiwa, Ritz-Carlton Niseko Village and Pavilions Hirafu.
Research into the alpine real estate sector this past high season by C9 revealed that pre-sales of condominiums topped USD1.3 billon and house and/or land plots edged close to a quarter of a billion USD. One clear sign of the times is a new entry from top Singapore property group SC Global with their mixed-use Setsu project on the main street of Hirafu.
Shifting tourism demand is demonstrated in three-year CAGR of 13% for Mainland Chinese with direct flights to the gateway New Chitose airport numbering eight. Overall the key airlift metric has seen the introduction of new international routes to Taiwan, Russia, Finland and the Philippines.
Looking deeper into the marketplace C9 Hotelworks Bill Barnett notes that “Niesko has become Asia’s fastest appreciating resort real estate markets. We are seeing premium pricing levels in prime projects attain levels of USD15-20,000.00 per square meter. Alpine property is becoming more of an object of desire for high-net-worth Asian’s versus the legacy tropical pool villa asset class.”
Moving towards 2020, C9’s forecast sees larger new hotel-type projects coming into the pipeline in areas such as Hirafu, Hanazono and Moiwa. In a growing sign of market maturation, the largely legacy of real estate condominium properties and stand-alone chalets looks to be challenged by bigger year-around full-service hotels.
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