Tokyo, Sep 17 (IANS): The average overall price of land in Japan as of July 1 rose 1.4 per cent from the previous year, marking the third consecutive year of advance, government data showed Tuesday.

The prices for commercial land climbed 2.4 per cent and those for residential land 0.9 per cent, both advancing for the third straight year and at the sharpest pace since 1992, when land prices tumbled as the country's asset-inflated bubble burst, according to a report released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

In Japan's three largest metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, residential land prices have risen for three consecutive years and commercial land prices for 12 years, the report said, Xinhua news agency reported.

Regional land prices also rose for the second year in a row, with residential land prices up 0.1 per cent and commercial land prices up 0.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, the report showed a significant decline in land prices in affected areas following an earthquake that struck Japan's Noto region on New Year's Day. The 10 locations with the largest decline in residential land prices were all in Ishikawa prefecture, according to the report.

Prefectural governments surveyed the prices for 21,436 benchmark locations nationwide, and the land ministry compiled the statistics.