FX.co ★ Japan Housing Starts Drop More than Expected

In August 2025, Japan experienced a 9.8% decline in housing starts compared to the previous year, exceeding market expectations which anticipated a decrease of just 4.8%. This downturn followed a 9.7% reduction observed in July and represented the fifth successive month of declines. The drop was evident across all housing categories: privately-owned homes decreased by 10.6% (compared to an 11.1% decline in July), rented properties fell by 8.1% (following a 13.1% dip), issued units plummeted by 67.5% (after remaining unchanged previously), built-for-sale homes saw an 8.2% decrease (versus a 1.7% fall), prefabricated housing was down by 13.3% (compared to a 7.0% reduction), and two-by-four homes declined by 6.3% (compared to a 2.6% decrease).