The May and Q1 release scheduled for August 31 has been postponed
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced on August 27 that publication of the May 2026 and first-quarter Property Price Index, originally scheduled for August 31, would be postponed. The ministry said a malfunction occurred in the calculation program and that additional time is needed to identify the cause, recalculate the index and verify the results. Releases for January, February, March and April 2026 as well as Q4 2025 have also been delayed for the same reason. A new publication date will be announced once a schedule is established, meaning unpublished periods should not be represented as official estimates.
The official index is based on roughly 300,000 transaction records per year
The Property Price Index is an MLIT statistical series based on approximately 300,000 real estate transaction-price records annually. It measures price movements nationwide and across regional blocks and metropolitan areas and is normally released monthly. The ministry also publishes complementary data on property transaction counts and transaction area using ownership-transfer registrations. The index is not a valuation of a specific condominium or parcel of land, but it provides an official reference for comparing medium- and long-term movements in Japanese residential and commercial property prices. Delays covering several periods therefore matter for analysts seeking the latest official price series.
Other data can fill information gaps but cannot directly replace the index
Until publication resumes, investors can use other sources such as REINS completed transactions, the Land Price LOOK survey and housing-start data for more recent market signals. Those statistics measure different properties, locations, periods and concepts, so they should not be substituted directly for the Property Price Index. This distinction is particularly important in reports prepared for overseas investors. Presenting an older official index value simply as the latest Japanese property price can create a misleading impression. Any market report should state the observation period, publication date and the fact that some official index releases are currently postponed.