Land appreciation cooling despite surge in Hirafu and Hanazono areas and dollar yen exchange rate may set stage for property market rebound.

"Despite the government's closed border policies shutting down the overseas market for over two years, Niseko's domestic tourism hos been resilient. In Q1, 2022, total visitors to Niseko were 288,670, growing by 14% compared to the some period in 2021

Niseko's winter tourism market and high-value foreign segment is connected to the real estate sector. As a result, commercial land prices in 2022 decelerated.

This trend was also seen in residential land prices, where growth was 12% in 2022, down from 40% in 2020, and 25% for 2021.

Comparing Niseko to other Japanese alpine resort areas, Furono was 18% and Hokubo 17%. Honozono, Hirofu, and Niseko Village/ Higoshiyomo remain the top three destinations in the project pipeline.

There remains a strong push for luxury projects outside of the mainstream Hirofu area driven by the lock of prime land and rising prices.

Two factors that may hamper wider destination growth ore aging ski facilities and potential changes to the area development and more restrictive zoning by the government

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