Kyoto sellers rarely change their price, and cut hard when they do (sale prices -0.72%)
Rarely moved, deeply cut
In Kyoto in September, sale asking prices moved -0.72% on a matched-listing basis and rents -0.23%.
The headline figure looks much like other cities. The difference is in how prices move. Only 9.3% of the 5,198 sale listings we tracked changed price in September, the lowest share of the seven cities reported this month; more than nine in ten held their price.
When prices did move, the median cut was -4.78%, the largest of the seven. Sellers wait and then cut hard rather than trimming in small steps. Rents behave the same way: only 3.4% changed, and the median cut, -5.4%, is again the largest of the seven.
At every step at least 4,308 sale listings and 6,166 rentals were matched. Units that sell or let drop out, so these figures describe listings that stayed on the market.
Prices drop sharply after five years
| Building age | Listings | Share | Median per m² |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-5 years | 270 | 5.6% | ¥1M to ¥1.1M |
| 6-10 | 270 | 5.6% | ¥700k to ¥800k |
| 11-20 | 512 | 10.6% | ¥500k to ¥600k |
| 21-30 | 916 | 18.9% | ¥400k to ¥500k |
| 31-40 | 1,035 | 21.3% | ¥300k to ¥400k |
| 41+ | 1,850 | 38.1% | ¥250k to ¥300k |
Sale prices per m² for 6 to 10 year old buildings are already about 70% of the level for buildings up to five years old. Newness carries a large premium here, and it is lost in the first few years. Past 41 years prices are below 30% of the near-new level.
| Building age | Listings | Share | Median per m² |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-5 years | 1,554 | 6.5% | ¥2,797 |
| 6-10 | 1,452 | 6.1% | ¥2,610 |
| 11-20 | 3,640 | 15.2% | ¥2,412 |
| 21-30 | 4,394 | 18.4% | ¥2,281 |
| 31-40 | 6,863 | 28.7% | ¥1,889 |
| 41+ | 6,029 | 25.2% | ¥1,675 |
Rents fall gently and still hold about 60% of the near-new level past 41 years. The gap between the two is wide, so older buildings earn much more rent relative to their price. You can calculate the yield for a property, or explore price against building age.
What is on the market
| Layout | Listings | Share | Median per m² |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3LDK | 1,362 | 28% | ¥400k to ¥500k |
| 2LDK | 767 | 15.8% | ¥400k to ¥500k |
| 4LDK | 497 | 10.2% | ¥300k to ¥400k |
| 3DK | 230 | 4.7% | ¥200k to ¥250k |
| 1LDK | 206 | 4.2% | ¥600k to ¥700k |
| 4DK | 174 | 3.6% | ¥150k to ¥200k |
| 2LDK+S | 141 | 2.9% | ¥500k to ¥600k |
| 4K | 123 | 2.5% | ¥200k to ¥250k |
| 5LDK | 116 | 2.4% | ¥300k to ¥400k |
| 3LDK+S | 98 | 2% | ¥400k to ¥500k |
| 3K | 98 | 2% | ¥200k to ¥250k |
| 5DK | 92 | 1.9% | ¥250k to ¥300k |
| 1K | 86 | 1.8% | ¥400k to ¥500k |
| 2DK | 76 | 1.6% | ¥300k to ¥400k |
| Studio | 71 | 1.5% | ¥300k to ¥400k |
| 5K | 61 | 1.3% | ¥300k to ¥400k |
| 1LDK+S | 56 | 1.2% | ¥1M to ¥1.1M |
| 5LDK+S | 50 | 1% | ¥300k to ¥400k |
| 4LDK+S | 50 | 1% | ¥300k to ¥400k |
| Layout | Listings | Share | Median per m² |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1K | 15,817 | 56% | ¥2,317 |
| Studio | 2,518 | 8.9% | ¥2,138 |
| 1LDK | 2,511 | 8.9% | ¥2,314 |
| 1DK | 2,209 | 7.8% | ¥2,191 |
| 2LDK | 1,414 | 5% | ¥1,552 |
| 2K | 1,178 | 4.2% | ¥1,932 |
| 2DK | 1,161 | 4.1% | ¥1,500 |
| 3LDK | 470 | 1.7% | ¥1,522 |
| 3DK | 431 | 1.5% | ¥1,216 |
| 3K | 146 | 0.5% | ¥1,285 |
| 4K | 106 | 0.4% | ¥1,195 |
| 4DK | 63 | 0.2% | ¥1,029 |
| 1SLDK | 62 | 0.2% | ¥2,708 |
More than half of rentals are 1Ks, a market built around students and single people. 3LDKs are the most common sale listing.
Levels
In September the median sale listing asked 2,980 man-yen and the median rental 5.5 man-yen a month, or 2,154 yen per m². Medians move with the mix of listings; read them as a level.
About this data
We observed sale listings on 4 days and rentals on 4 days in September, recording 19,258 and 102,350 listings. These are asking prices, not closing prices.
Kyoto's matched record starts on 2026-09-01, so this report shows September only. Ward breakdowns are not shown because too few wards have enough listings. Building age is stated on 84.7% of rental listings.