In 2018, a total of 942,000 housing units were built in Japan. Compared to the previous year, the number fell by 22,000 units (-2%). The first quarter of 2018 was mainly responsible for this development. A decrease of 18,000 units could not be compensated during the following quarters.
The second quarter did not reach 2017’s number of housing units either, with housing starts declining by 5,000 units (-2%).
The third quarter brought a turnaround for Japan’s construction sector. With a slight increase of 546 units (+0.2%), housing starts began to increase again.
Finally, the last quarter of 2018 gives reason for hope. Growing by 0.6% compared to the same period of 2017, Japanese housing starts rose by 1,396 units.
