FX.co ★ Japan Housing Starts Fall the Least in 4 Months

Japan experienced a 9.7% year-on-year decrease in housing starts for July 2025, slightly exceeding market expectations of a 9.6% decrease. This follows a 15.6% decline in June. Although this marks the fourth consecutive monthly reduction, it represents the smallest decline thus far, with contractions easing across most categories. Owned homes saw an 11.1% drop compared to a 16.4% decline in June, rented housing fell by 13.1% against a previous 14.0%, built-for-sale housing decreased by 1.7% from 17.9%, two-by-four homes were down 2.6% from 5.7%, and prefabricated housing starts decreased by 7% compared to 9.6%. In contrast, the number of dwellings in issued units remained unchanged following a 10.2% increase the previous month.