— Japan Nov Housing Starts -0.3% Y/Y; MNI Fcast -5.0%
— Japan Nov Housing Starts Post 3rd Y/Y Fall in Row
TOKYO (MNI) – Housing starts in Japan slumped 0.3% in November to
72,635 units, posting a third straight fall, as demand waned after the
government ended its subsidies for building energy-saving homes in July,
data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
showed Tuesday.
The November figure was, however, better than the median economist
forecast for a 5.0% fall in a Market News International survey.
It followed declines of 5.8% in October and 10.8% in September.
The government has since revived its temporary reward program for
buying energy-saving houses but economists have said it did not have a
full impact on October housing starts as yet.
Reward points will be given to owners of greener homes under
construction or those being renovated to save energy consumption,
effective only from Oct. 21. The program will end on Oct. 31, 2012.
The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts stood at
845,000 units in November, up from 774,000 units in October.
The breakdown follows (year-on-year changes in the previous month
in parentheses):
— Owner-occupied houses -5.1% y/y at 25,849 units, a third
straight fall.
— Houses for rent -8.5% y/y at 24,446 units, a third straight
fall.
— Condominiums and houses for sale +13.1% at 20,985 units, a
second straight rise.
tokyo@marketnews.com
** Market News International Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4835 **
[TOPICS: M$J$$$,M$A$$$,MAJDS$]
