Japan's housing starts unexpectedly declined in May, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism showed on Thursday.
Housing starts dropped 4.3 percent yearly in May, after a 2.4 percent increase in April. Economists had forecast an annual growth of 1.7 percent.
Annualized housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted 828,000 in May from 885,000 in the previous month.
Data also showed that construction orders received by big 50 contractors rose 30.5 percent year-on-year in May, the same rate as seen in April.
