The average price of land in Japan rose 1.5% in the year to July 1, the fifth consecutive annual increase, government data showed, Kyodo News reported on September 15.

The figures point to a durable recovery in a property market that spent decades in decline after Japan's asset price bubble collapsed in 1992. The pace matched the previous year's rise, which was the fastest since the bubble burst, with gains driven by housing demand in the biggest cities and by tourist destinations benefiting from record numbers of foreign visitors.

Commercial land prices advanced 2.9%, lifted by demand for shop and hotel sites, while residential land prices gained 1.0%, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

"As the economy continues to recover, prices are in general maintaining their upward trend," said an official of the ministry.

The data also exposed a widening gap between the big cities and the rest of the country. Prices in the three largest metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya rose 4.4%, against growth of just 0.4% elsewhere.

Four regional hubs outside those areas, Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, recorded a 4.1% increase, down 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier and trailing the three metropolitan areas for the first time in 14 years. In Sapporo, Sendai and Fukuoka, buyers held back or scaled down purchases after years of sharp price rises were compounded by rising material and labour costs, the ministry said.

Ski resort areas favoured by overseas tourists led individual locations. Furano in Hokkaido posted the biggest residential land increase at 32.0%, while Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture topped the commercial ranking with a 35.6% gain. Asakusa, a sightseeing district in Tokyo, was also among the strongest performers.

Commercial land prices rose in 34 of Japan's 47 prefectures, while residential prices increased in 20.

The site of the Meidi-ya Ginza commercial building in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district remained the country's most expensive at JPY52.5mn ($338,000) per square metre, holding the top spot for a 21st year.