The Real Estate Information Institute announced on November 19th the results of its survey on "Brokerage Performance of Major Real Estate Companies" for the first half of FY 2022 as outlined in the table below. 

A questionnaire was sent to each large real estate brokerage company and responses were received from 20 firms.

Notes on the table data

Revenue numbers are not down to the yen.

Mitsui Fudosan Realty's brokerage revenue includes sales brokerage, rental brokerage, and rental management revenue. 

Sumitomo Real Estate Sales' brokerage revenue includes leasing brokerage. 

Tokyu Livable's brokerage revenues include leasing brokerage and leasing-related revenues. 

Mitsubishi Jisho House Net's brokerage revenue includes rental brokerage. 

Figures for Tokyo Tatemono Real Estate Sales are for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021; 

Figures for other companies are for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.

What it means

During the period under review, all 20 companies surveyed had increased their brokerage income. 

This is thought to be a reaction to the fact that in the same period of the previous year, most of the responding firms saw a significant drop in revenue due to shop closures and other factors caused by the issuance of the first emergency declaration in response to the pandemic. 

However, from June of 2020 onwards, all companies have recovered steadily, supported by the strong demand for home acquisition. 

Most of the top companies, including Mitsui Fudosan Realty Group, Sumitomo Realty & Development Sales, Tokyu Livable, Nomura Real Estate Solutions, and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Realty, have recovered their brokerage revenue to the same level or higher than the pre-COVID first half of FY 2020, the year prior to the onset of the pandemic.

Top-ranking company Mitsui Fudosan Realty saw its commission income reach record highs, although the number of contracts executed did not reach the first half of FY 2020 levels. 

Sumitomo Real Estate Sales saw an increase in the number of contracts executed, mainly in second hand condominium transactions. 

What stands out from the comments by responding firms was the strong buying demand in retail. 

Kintetsu Real Estate said that the number of contracts increased even though the actual inventory for sale was relatively low and prices were on an upward trend due to the strong demand from buyers. 

Odakyu Real Estate also said the movement of buyers remained strong in both central Tokyo and the surrounding suburbs. 

On the other hand, there are respondents who focused their comments exclusively on the shortage of inventory available for sale. 

Keio Real Estate expressed concern about the shortage, saying although buyers are highly motivated, there has been no increase in the number of seller consultations or sell side vendor agreements executed and as a result, the low inventory has accelerated price hikes.  

Keio further explained that since August, buyers have not been able to match their budgets with seller asking prices and there is a growing sense of caution about higher prices from buyers; caution which could start to curb demand.

As for wholesale, many participating respondents said they felt the segment is recovering. According to Mitsubishi Real Estate Service, the market recovery has been driven by contracts for large-scale properties, including asset replacement by J-REITs and sales and leasebacks by non-RE businesses. 

However, the company also expressed concern that there are few properties for sale in the market as a whole, making buyer matching more difficult.

Further Reading

Brokerage Performance of Major Real Estate Companies - R.E. Port (Japanese only; November 2021)