Japanese Home Purchases Rise Before Corolla-Size Tax: Mortgages

Record low mortgage rates and the prospect of a consumption tax increase that will add the price of a new Toyota Corolla to the cost of an average home spurred Sumiko Morigaki into action.

“Tax hikes have been looming, so that gave me a push to buy,” said Morigaki, 43, a manager at an apparel retailer in Tokyo, who bought a three-bedroom condominium in Kanagawa prefecture, neighboring Tokyo, earlier this year.