TOKYO (MNI) – Housing starts in Japan fell 2.4% in March from a
year earlier to 65,008 units, posting the 16th straight y/y drop, the
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said on Friday.
The pace of decline decelerated from -9.3% in February and -8.1% in
January and it was much slower than double-digit decreases seen
throughout 2009 that ranged from -15.7% y/y to -38.3%.
The latest figure came in stronger than the consensus call of a
5.8% drop.
The biggest drop on record was -44.0% marked in September 2007.
Japan’s housing starts in fiscal 2009 that ended on March 31 fell
25.4% from a year earlier, reversing from a 0.3% rise in fiscal 2008.
In July 2008, housing starts posted their first year-on-year gain
in 13 months (+19.0%), followed by sharp gains of 53.6% in August and
54.2% in September. But amid the global recession, they slowed quickly
to be unchanged in November and then dropped 5.8% in December 2008.
The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts stood at
854,000 units in March, up from 794,000 units in February.
The breakdown follows (on-year changes in the previous month in
parentheses):
— Owner-occupied houses +3.2% at 21,981 units (vs. +2.9%), posting
the fifth consecutive month of y/y gains.
— Houses for rent -12.5% at 24,055 units (vs. -8.4%), down for the
16th straight month.
— Condominiums and houses for sale +8.8% at 17,311 units (vs.
-25.6%), the first y/y rise in 16 months.
tokyo@marketnews.com
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