TOKYO, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The average unit price of new condominiums in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures logged a record high of 62.60 million yen (550,000 U.S. dollars) in 2021, exceeding the previous record in 1990, a research institute said Tuesday.

In the capital as well as Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama, the price rose 2.9 percent from the previous year due to the growing popularity of luxurious properties such as high-rise apartments in central Tokyo, surpassing the price of 61.23 million yen (536,820 dollars) logged in 1990, according to the Real Estate Economic Institute.

By area, the average unit price went up 7.5 percent in Tokyo's 23 wards and up 5.2 percent in Saitama Prefecture. However, it fell 3.1 percent and 1.4 percent in Kanagawa and Chiba, respectively, the institute said.

Meanwhile, the number of new condominiums listed for sale in the capital and its vicinity in 2021 increased 23.5 percent from a year earlier to 33,636 units, as more people telework and stay home amid the pandemic, leading to a growing demand for larger rooms, the institute said.

"A continuous rise in construction costs since Japan started preparing for the (Tokyo) Olympics in 2013, as well as a shortage of labor in the construction industry, have been pushing up unit prices in recent years," an official at the institute said, adding that the average price is unlikely to start falling soon.

Housing prices have been increasing in many countries, as their central banks set low interest rates to support the economies hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, stimulating demand for new homes, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund.

The Bank of Japan said last week that it will maintain the easy monetary policy as the 2 percent inflation target remains unreached, while U.S. and European central banks are moving toward policy normalization to deal with inflation.