# Japan Mortgages for Foreigners: Requirements and Lenders
> What foreigners actually need to get a Japanese mortgage in 2026: eligibility, lenders, down payments, fees, taxes, and common pitfalls.
**URL:** https://migaku.com/blog/language-fun/japan-mortgages-for-foreigners-requirements-and-lenders
**Last Updated:** 2026-05-25
**Tags:** culture, resources, deepdive
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Foreigners can legally buy property in Japan with no visa or residency restriction on the purchase itself, but getting a Japanese bank to finance that purchase is a separate matter. Most lenders want permanent residency (PR), a Japanese spouse, or a long employment history in Japan, and the few banks that lend to non-PR foreigners apply stricter income, down payment, and term conditions.
*Last updated: May 25, 2026*
## Can Foreigners Get a Mortgage in Japan?
Yes, but eligibility depends heavily on residency status. Owning land or a building in Japan is open to anyone regardless of nationality or visa, and there is no foreigner-only purchase tax or quota. Financing, however, is filtered through each bank's internal credit policy, and most domestic megabanks treat "foreigner without PR" as a higher-risk profile.
In practice, applicants fall into four tiers:
- Permanent residents and special permanent residents. Treated essentially the same as Japanese citizens. Access to all major lenders, full Flat 35 eligibility, and standard down payments around 20%.
- Foreigners married to a Japanese citizen. Many banks will lend if the Japanese spouse co-signs or is the primary applicant.
- Long-term residents without PR (work visa, engineer, HSP, etc.). Limited to a smaller pool of lenders (Prestia, Shinsei, Tokyo Star, SMBC Trust, Suruga, AEON Bank, au Jibun Bank). Down payments of 30–50% are common, and Japanese-language ability is often required.
- Non-residents living abroad. Very few banks will lend. Where they do, loan-to-value is typically capped at 50–70%, and pricing is closer to investment-loan territory.
From April 1, 2026, all non-resident buyers must also file Bank of Japan FEFTA Form 22 within 20 days of acquisition, covering property type, location, area, acquisition date, and price. This is a reporting obligation, not an approval gate, but missing it creates problems later.
## Eligibility Requirements by Lender Type
There are three broad lender categories foreigners deal with in Japan: Japanese megabanks, foreigner-friendly retail banks, and the government-backed Flat 35 program.
### Japanese megabanks (MUFG, Mizuho, SMBC, Resona)
General baseline for foreign applicants:
- Permanent residency, or a Japanese-citizen spouse as co-borrower
- Stable employment in Japan with Japanese-source income and tax records
- Resident registration (juminhyo) at a Japanese address
- Japanese-language ability sufficient to read and sign loan contracts
- Group credit life insurance enrollment (団体信用生命保険, *dan-shin*)
- Typical age cap: under 70 at application, fully repaid by around 80
Without PR, the standard answer from these banks is no, even with high income.
### Foreigner-friendly retail banks
These lenders publish foreigner-specific products or are known to underwrite them case by case:
| Bank | PR required? | Notable conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Prestia (SMBC Trust Bank) | No | Must reside in Japan; annual income above ¥10,000,000; English support; no guarantor required |
| Shinsei Bank | Case by case | Stable Japan-based income; Japanese residency |
| Tokyo Star Bank ("Star Mortgage") | No (non-PR eligible) | Loan range ¥500,000–¥100,000,000; term 1–35 years |
| Suruga Bank | No | Higher rates; more flexible underwriting |
| AEON Bank | No, but visa without work restrictions required | 6+ months employed (3+ years if self-employed); read/write Japanese; minimum 20% down; term up to 15 years; base rate +1.0% with no preferential discount |
| au Jibun Bank | Case by case | Online-first; typically requires PR or Japanese spouse |
| ORIX Bank (investment loans) | No | Annual income ¥7,000,000+; investment property only |
These are the realistic options if you do not yet hold permanent residency.
### Flat 35 (Japan Housing Finance Agency)
Flat 35 is a fixed-rate loan product administered by the Japan Housing Finance Agency (JHF), an independent administrative agency under MLIT and the Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with 300+ private financial institutions.
Key points for foreigners:
- Generally available only to Japanese citizens and foreign nationals holding permanent or special permanent residency. Non-PR foreigners are effectively excluded.
- Loan term between 15 and 35 years.
- Applicant under 70 at application and under 80 at full repayment.
- January 2026 rates (LTV ≤90%, 21–35-year term): 2.080%–4.740%, most common 2.080%, the first time the most common rate hit 2% since the October 2017 revision.
- January 2026 rates (LTV ≤90%, 20-year-or-less term): 1.710%–4.370%, most common 1.710%.
- Flat 35 Childrearing Support Plus offers interest rate discounts of up to 1% scaled by number of children. About 60% of Flat 35 users now choose this option (JHF Integrated Report 2025).
- JHF is also piloting "Flat 50," a 50-year fixed-rate product, with national expansion planned during 2026.
For current Flat 35 rates each month, check the official site at flat35.com.
## Document Checklist
Exact paperwork varies by lender, but expect to provide:
Identity and status
- Residence card (在留カード) front and back
- Passport
- My Number (個人番号) notification card or card
- Resident certificate (住民票) issued within the last 3 months
- For PR holders: PR-stamped residence card
- For spouse-based applications: family register (戸籍謄本) of the Japanese spouse
Income and employment
- Last 2–3 years of withholding tax certificates (源泉徴収票)
- Last 2–3 years of tax payment certificates (納税証明書) and resident tax certificates (課税証明書)
- Employment certificate (在職証明書)
- For the self-employed: 3 years of final tax returns (確定申告書) and company financials
Property
- Sales contract (売買契約書) or draft
- Important matters explanation document (重要事項説明書)
- Property registry (登記簿謄本)
- Floor plan and survey map
- For Flat 35: technical inspection report
Banking
- 6–12 months of Japanese bank statements
- Proof of down payment funds and their origin
If you are still narrowing down what to buy, a related read is our [apartment hunting checklist for foreigners](https://migaku.com/blog/language-fun/apartment-hunting-checklist-for-foreigners-in-japan), and if you are looking at older houses or buildings on leased land, see [land lease vs freehold property in Japan](https://migaku.com/blog/language-fun/land-lease-vs-freehold-property-in-japan-what-to-know).
## Application Steps
The end-to-end process from offer to keys typically runs 1.5 to 3 months. A workable sequence:
1. **Pre-screening (事前審査, *jizen shinsa*).** Submit ID, income documents, and a property summary to one or more lenders. Result in roughly 3–10 business days. This is non-binding but tells you what loan size and rate you can realistically expect.
2. Sign the purchase agreement. Pay the deposit (typically 5–10% of purchase price). Most contracts include a loan contingency clause (ローン特約) that lets you cancel without penalty if financing falls through.
3. **Full underwriting (本審査, *hon shinsa*).** Submit the complete document set, including property documents and group credit life insurance (dan-shin) medical declarations. 1–3 weeks for retail banks; about 1–1.5 months for Flat 35 from screening to loan execution.
4. Loan agreement signing (金銭消費貸借契約). Done at the bank, in Japanese. Bring your inkan (registered seal), residence card, and the bank book where the loan will be deposited.
5. Closing (決済) and registration. On the same day, the bank wires the loan, you pay the balance and fees, a judicial scrivener (司法書士) files the title transfer, and you receive the keys.
For Flat 35 specifically, the property must pass a JHF technical standards inspection. Inspection fees: ¥20,000–¥50,000 for newly built houses, ¥40,000–¥60,000 for existing houses.
## Fees, Down Payments, and Processing Time
Mortgage costs in Japan are weighted heavily toward the front end.
Down payment expectations (as of 2026)
- Permanent residents: around 20%
- Non-PR foreigners resident in Japan: 30–50%, depending on lender
- Non-residents living abroad: LTV often capped at 50–70%, meaning 30–50% down
Interest rate environment
On December 19, 2025, the Bank of Japan raised its policy rate by 0.25 percentage points from 0.50% to 0.75%, the third hike since the end of negative rates in March 2024. Variable-rate mortgages remain dominant at roughly three-quarters of new mortgages, with 10-year fixed now the most common product among fixed-period borrowers (JHF H2-2025 borrower survey, published February 2026). Variable rates have started moving upward in step with policy moves, so the gap between variable and Flat 35 fixed is narrower than it was two years ago.
Typical one-off costs when buying with a mortgage
| Item | Typical amount |
|---|---|
| Total transaction costs | 5–6% of purchase price |
| Bank/loan fees | 1–2% of purchase price |
| Registration & license tax (land) | 1.5% (through March 2026) |
| Registration & license tax (building) | 2.0% |
| Real estate acquisition tax | 3–4% of assessed value |
| Annual fixed asset tax | ~1.4% of assessed value |
| Annual city planning tax | ~0.3% of assessed value |
Bank admin fee structures vary widely. SMBC Trust Bank, for example, charges 2.2% of the loan balance as the admin fee on some floating-rate loans, with flat ¥22,000 fees on others (as of February 2026). Always ask for a written fee schedule before signing.
Tax credit on the upside
The home loan mortgage tax credit lets owners deduct 0.7% of the outstanding mortgage balance (capped at a ¥50 million balance) from national income tax for up to 13 years, as of February 2026. Eligibility depends on residency, property size, and whether the property meets energy efficiency standards.
Group credit life insurance (dan-shin)
Most Japanese mortgages require enrollment in group credit life insurance, which pays off the loan if the borrower dies or becomes seriously disabled. Under Flat 35, opting out of dan-shin typically reduces the rate by about 0.2 percentage points, which is worth modeling if you already hold strong life cover.
## Permanent Residency: The Underwriting Cheat Code
If you plan to stay long-term, getting PR before applying for a mortgage usually saves more money than any rate-shopping exercise.
Standard pathway: 10 years of continuous residence in Japan, including 5+ years on a work or qualifying residence visa. Faster routes:
- Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) fast track: 1 year at 80 points, 3 years at 70 points.
- Spouse of a Japanese national: 3 years of marriage plus 1 year of residence in Japan.
On February 24, 2026, Japan's Immigration Services Agency tightened PR guidelines: the required continuous period on a qualifying visa category rose from 3 years to 5 years, and reviewers now scrutinize past unpaid taxes and health insurance contributions more strictly, even after the arrears have been settled. There were 932,090 PR holders recorded as of June 2025.
Processing time is officially 4–6 months per ISA standards, with complex cases sometimes exceeding a year. The approval fee is ¥10,000, paid by revenue stamp.
If you are still on a working holiday or an early-career visa, see [Japan working holiday visa eligibility](https://migaku.com/blog/language-fun/japan-working-holiday-visa-2026-eligibility-and-steps) for the longer planning picture.
## Common Pitfalls
- Assuming a high income offsets a non-PR visa. It usually does not at megabanks. Income matters, but visa status is the gate.
- Underestimating Japanese-language requirements. Loan agreements are signed in Japanese. Banks that say they accept foreign applicants still often require you to read and sign contracts without a translator.
- Ignoring dan-shin medical questions. Pre-existing conditions can disqualify you from group credit life insurance, which in turn can disqualify you from the loan. Address this early.
- Buying older wooden houses without checking Flat 35 standards. Many pre-1981 properties fail the earthquake-resistance benchmark and cannot use Flat 35 without retrofitting.
- Forgetting recurring taxes. Fixed asset tax and city planning tax arrive every year regardless of whether you live in the property.
- Skipping the loan contingency clause. Without ローン特約 in your purchase contract, a financing rejection can mean losing your deposit.
- Missing the BOJ Form 22 filing. From April 1, 2026, non-resident buyers must file within 20 days. Late filings draw follow-up from authorities.
## FAQs
Can I get a Japan mortgage on a work visa without permanent residency?
Yes, but from a narrower set of lenders, with a larger down payment (often 30–50%), and usually with a higher rate. Prestia, Shinsei, Tokyo Star, Suruga, AEON Bank, and ORIX Bank are the names that come up most.
Does marrying a Japanese citizen change my options?
Yes. Most megabanks will lend if your Japanese spouse is the primary applicant or a co-signer, often on the same terms offered to Japanese citizens.
Can I use Flat 35 without PR?
Generally no. Flat 35 is restricted in practice to Japanese citizens and permanent or special permanent residents.
What is the maximum loan term?
35 years at most banks and under Flat 35, with full repayment required by around age 80. JHF is rolling out Flat 50 (50-year fixed) more broadly in 2026.
Can I buy property in Japan while living abroad?
Yes. You will not get a typical residential mortgage from a Japanese bank, but some lenders offer non-resident loans at lower LTV, and cash purchases are common. Non-residents must file Bank of Japan FEFTA Form 22 within 20 days of acquisition starting April 1, 2026.
Are interest rates expected to rise further?
Variable rates have moved up after the BOJ's December 2025 hike to 0.75%, and Flat 35's most common rate at 21–35 years crossed 2.0% in January 2026 for the first time since 2017. Direction beyond mid-2026 depends on BOJ policy and is not predictable from public guidance alone.
Where can I check the current Flat 35 rate and BOJ policy rate?
Flat 35 publishes monthly rates at flat35.com. BOJ policy rate announcements are at boj.or.jp. For updated PR guidelines, see the Immigration Services Agency at moj.go.jp/isa.
Navigating a Japanese mortgage means handling Japanese-language contracts, bank interviews, and tax paperwork, and the borrowers who get the best terms are the ones who can read what they are signing. If you are settling in Japan for the long haul, building real Japanese reading and listening through native content pays off directly in moments like these, and that is what [try Migaku](https://migaku.com/signup) is built for.