Japan’s housing starts rose 6.1% year-on-year in August 2026, slowing from an 8.2% gain in July and marking the weakest pace in the current five-month expansion. The figure also missed market expectations for a 7.0% increase, as growth cooled in both rental housing (6.5% vs 10.0% in July) and built-for-sale homes (6.4% vs 14.6%).
By contrast, owner-occupied housing picked up slightly (1.0% vs 0.4%), while starts of issued housing rebounded sharply (228.6% vs -24.4%), and prefabricated housing returned to growth (12.3% vs -6.9%). The decline in two-by-four home starts also moderated (-0.9% vs -8.5%).
