Housing loan options widen for foreigners looking for property in Japan

It is said that more and more foreigners are eyeing property in Japan as a good investment, especially Westerners and people in parts of Asia such as Hong Kong and Singapore. Many foreigners are also staying longer in Japan, getting married here and starting families, and opening their own businesses.

Foreigners see good potential for capital growth in Japan's property market, particularly in investment properties such as apartments and homes in Tokyo, and in ski resort areas in Niseko, Hokkaido, and Hakuba, Nagano, where many Australians have invested in ski accommodation properties in the last five years or so.

However, many foreign residents may have experienced difficulties in getting a loan from some Japanese banks. Foreigners are many times perceived as higher credit risks by Japanese banks as they will be in Japan only for a short time. To get a loan, it is common to be required to go through a very long credit approval process, which takes one to three months, and involves many documents. Usually, permanent residency and a Japanese guarantor are required.

To relieve the frustration of such customers, National Australia Bank (NAB), one of the largest publicly listed commercial banks in Australia, has launched loans for property in Japan from its Tokyo branch in Nihonbashi.

Applicants can be any nationality, however, the loans are particularly geared to foreigners in Japan who have experienced difficulties in dealing with Japanese banks and securing a loan in the past. NAB offers a fast, efficient approval process and

"foreigner friendly" Australian banking service in English or Japanese. There are no set requirements for permanent residency or for a local guarantor. The new NAB loans are suitable for owner-occupied homes as well as investment properties such as houses, mansions, apartments and land in urban areas of Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Niseko in Hokkaido.

Loan applicants are assessed on their merits, on a case by case basis, based on income, their current assets and liabilities, and financial strength. Full details are available on application, however, loan lending percentages will be generous and interest rates will be highly competitive. NAB has been operating in Japan since 1969, offering retail and private banking comprising foreign currency deposits, and overseas property yen loans for expats living in Japan who are buying investment properties in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

NAB's new loans, along with the company's more than seven years of overseas property finance business experience, will make the borrowing process as smooth and as painless as possible, and provide wider housing loan options for foreigners in Japan.

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