For a decade, a flat in London was the default trophy asset for wealthy families across Asia — a place to house a child at university, and a store of value in one of the world’s deepest property markets. That default is starting to crack.
According to Savills Thailand, wealthy Thai families are increasingly choosing to rent rather than buy in London, as Brexit-era policy uncertainty and rising ownership costs make long-term commitments harder to justify. Typical London property budgets among these buyers have fallen from the £1.5–5 million range seen five to ten years ago to closer to £800,000–1.5 million today, with demand also rising for smaller, sub-£500,000 homes further from the city centre.
Families aren’t abandoning the UK — many are still sending children to study there — but they are increasingly opting for annual rentals while they wait for more policy clarity.
The more interesting part of the story is where some of that redirected capital is going: Japan. A weaker yen has quietly increased the purchasing power of Asian buyers, and that shift is showing up not just in Thai investor behaviour, but in the questions we’re now hearing regularly from clients across Singapore and the wider region considering Osaka property investment for the first time — most of whom are asking some version of the same thing: “If London no longer makes sense at our budget, what does?”
Why Osaka Real Estate Is Entering the Conversation
Tokyo remains the obvious answer for investors chasing scale and liquidity — it has been the top Asia-Pacific city for cross-border capital for seven straight years running. But Tokyo’s yields have compressed as prices have climbed, and that has pushed a growing share of value-conscious capital toward Japan’s second city.
A few data points worth sitting with:
- Osaka carried real momentum out of Expo 2025, which drew more than 25 million visitors to Yumeshima before closing — a tourism and infrastructure tailwind that’s still working its way through the local property market.
- Osaka condo prices rose sharply in 2024, driven in large part by ultra-luxury units in the redevelopment zone north of JR Osaka Station.
- On yield, Osaka and Fukuoka are currently viewed as more compelling than central Tokyo, against a national average residential yield of around 4.2%.
- Land prices across Japan’s three major metro areas — Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya — rose 4.3% year-on-year as of early last year, marking a fourth consecutive year of gains.
None of this means Osaka is a substitute for Tokyo. It’s a different trade-off: investors prioritising near-term rental income and a lower entry point tend to find Osaka’s numbers more attractive, while those focused purely on long-run capital appreciation still lean toward central Tokyo. The point isn’t that one city wins — it’s that Japan now offers Asian investors a genuine spectrum of options at a moment when London, their old default, has become harder to justify at the budgets they’re used to.
What Osaka Property Investment Means for Singapore-Based Investors
Singapore HNWIs have historically diversified into the UK, Australia and, more recently, Japan. The Thai data is a useful proxy: it shows real capital already moving, not just interest. For investors reassessing where a few hundred thousand to a few million dollars of overseas property allocation should sit, Japan — and Osaka specifically — is worth a proper look, particularly for anyone who wants rental income to do more of the work while the yen remains favourable.
We work with cross-border investors through every stage of a Japan purchase — from initial market orientation and financing questions, through to post-handover property management and rental operations, so the property doesn’t just get bought, it gets managed properly from a distance.
If you’re weighing a Japan allocation for the first time, or comparing Osaka against Tokyo for a specific budget, we’re happy to walk through the numbers.
Get in touch with the FMI Japan team: fmij.sg
FAQ
Generally, yes, on a per-unit basis — which is a big part of why yields in Osaka currently look more attractive than central Tokyo. But “cheaper” doesn’t mean “lower quality”; well-located Osaka redevelopment areas have seen some of the sharpest price growth in the country over the past two years.
Not necessarily. Tokyo has a longer track record of consistent capital appreciation, backed by its position as Japan’s political and financial centre. Osaka’s growth has historically been more cyclical — tied to tourism cycles and regional economic activity — with Expo 2025 acting as a recent, strong tailwind. Investors prioritising near-term rental income tend to prefer Osaka’s numbers.
It’s less about losing confidence in London and more about the cost of holding it. Ownership costs have risen, Brexit-related policy uncertainty has continued, and many families now prefer the flexibility of renting year to year over locking capital into a purchase. That freed-up capital is what’s increasingly being weighed against Japan.
It means Asian buyers currently get more property for the same budget than they did a few years ago — that’s a real, current advantage. It’s not a guarantee of future currency movements, and we’d always encourage clients to base a purchase decision on the property and the numbers first, with the yen as one factor rather than the whole thesis.
The process runs from initial market orientation and financing questions through to the purchase itself, and — importantly for overseas owners — post-handover property management and rental operations, so the asset is actually looked after once the deal is done. This is the part that trips up a lot of first-time overseas buyers, so it’s worth asking about early rather than after handover.
Sources: Savills Thailand (via The Star, 29 July 2026)
