. my collaborators and i have been able to get a unique data set of a large number of property transactions in greater tokyo which illustrates these four stages. here i will present the results based on this data set. 2 chart 5 depicts the timeline graphically. from p1 to p2 takes on average ten weeks, form p2 to p3 five and a half weeks, and finally from p3 to p4 fifteen and a half weeks. thus, from p1 to p4 takes almost thirty one weeks, more than a half year. we should also take into account the time taken to collect and compile the information, which is itself likely to be substantial, as in the case of gdp and cpi data. thus, if the authorities use the most reliable transaction price data of p4, it will probably take almost a year. from the policy maker ’ s viewpoint, this is often too late. to get the timeliest information about property market conditions, earlier reporting of p1, the initial asking price, is preferable. however, this is the asking price, not the transaction price. there might be a substantial bias in this asking price data because a seller wants to sell at a higher price, even though it may take much longer to strike a deal or he is never able to sell. in fact, chart 6 shows the price distribution of p1, p2, p3 and p4. as expected, the initial asking price p1 has a higher average than the price p4 at the registry office ( though there is the caveat that the sample population of p1 is not exactly the same as that of p4 ). thus, we face an apparent trade - off : if you want timely information then you use p1, but it has non - negligible bias. if you want accurate information, then you use p4, but it has already become somewhat stale information by the time it is available. best use of market information there is, however, an important way around this dilemma. it should be noted that the handbook recommends hedonic quality adjustment in property price indexes based on detailed micro and macro market information. there are various ways to conduct hedonic quality adjustment, among which a hedonic quantile regression approach is one of the most sophisticated and robust. remarkably, after applying this quality adjustment to both p1 and p4 of our data set, we find the quality - adjusted price distribution based on p1 is very close to

march 6, 2017 bank of japan economic and financial developments and monetary policy in japan speech at a seminar hosted by the embassy of japan in switzerland ( zurich ) takako masai member of the policy board introduction it is a great honor to have the opportunity today to be invited to this seminar hosted by the embassy of japan in switzerland, and to exchange views with such a distinguished gathering of people representing the economic and financial communities in switzerland. today, i will first touch on economic and financial developments in japan. after that, i would like to explain the bank of japan's monetary policy and then share my views on the challenges and future for the economy. i. economic and financial developments in japan i will start by presenting my overview of the current economic and financial situation in japan, in order to provide a broad picture. then, i will give a summary of the latest outlook for economic activity and prices, or the outlook report, published in january 2017. the outlook report presents the bank's assessment of the current situation and the outlook for economic activity and prices, and is published quarterly. a. my overview of economic and financial developments 1. household sector favorable employment situation and household sentiment the current situation for japan's economy is characterized by tight labor market conditions. the average unemployment rate for 2016 declined to 3. 1 percent, a level close to so - called full employment. the active job openings - to - applicants ratio for 2016 rose to about 1. 4 times on average, which is the highest level in 25 years. it has risen, for example, not only in metropolitan areas but also in all other regions ( chart 1 ). i believe that such a favorable employment situation undoubtedly has supported household sentiment. individuals can feel great confidence when they do not need to be concerned about whether their wages will be cut, even if corporate performance underperforms to some extent, or whether they can find another job. this sense of reassurance is crucial in japan, where the mobility in the labor market is said to be relatively lower than in other countries. such improvement in household sentiment can be seen, for instance, in the remarkable improvement in the nippon research institute ( nri ) consumer sentiment index, which measures the outlook among consumers for financial conditions over the next one year from now. looking back at 2016, japan's economy continually faced several destabilizing factors, such as the turbulence in global financial markets from early in the year and situations at home - - namely, the kumamoto