— See Separate Table For Details of Individual Forecasts
TOKYO (MNI) – Japanese housing starts are expected to have risen
4.8% on year in July, which would be a fourth straight year-on-year
gain, according to the median forecast of analysts surveyed by Market
News International.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will
release the data at 1400 JST (0500 GMT) on Wednesday, Aug. 31.
Housing starts marked +5.8% y/y in June, +6.4% in May and +0.3% in
April.
Housing permits issued by the ministry, which are seen as a leading
indicator for housing starts, showed y/y gains of 5.1% in June and 3.9%
in May after falling 7.6% in April.
On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, housing starts appeared
to have totaled 828,000 units in July, up from 817,000 in June and
posting the highest level since 872,000 in February.
Looking ahead, Takumi Tsunoda, senior economist at Shinkin Central
Bank, said, “We need some more time before seeing (housing) demand in
the quake-hit (northeastern) region. Thus, new housing starts are
expected to remain at low levels for the time being.”
Temporary housing built by the government in disaster areas is not
covered in the housing starts statistics.
Housing starts are expected to rise 3.4% on year to 847,000 units
in fiscal 2011, the Research Institute of Construction and Economy said
last month, revising down its previous quarterly forecast for +3.8% at
852,000 due to the negative impact of the March earthquake disaster.
skodama@marketnews.com
** Market News International Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4838 **
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