Japan Housing Starts Fall 9.7%

(RTTNews) - Japan's housing starts decreased sharply for the fourth straight month in July, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism showed on Friday.

Housing starts dropped 9.7 percent year-on-year in July, slower than the 15.6 percent plunge in June. Economists had expected a decrease of 9.6 percent.

The data indicated a decrease in new construction across all categories, with the exception of issued ones. The decline was more evident in the rented category, which tumbled by 13.1 percent.

There were also declines of 11.1 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, in the owned and built-for-sale segments.

The seasonally adjusted annualized number of housing starts rose to 712,000 in July from 647,000 in June.

Data also showed that construction orders received by the big 50 contractors slumped 19.0 percent annually in July, reversing a 22.5 percent surge a month ago.

Separate official data from the Cabinet office showed that Japan's consumer confidence rose to a 7-month high of 34.9 in August from 33.7 in July. All four subcomponents improved, and the strongest contribution was made by the employment index, followed by the overall livelihood indicator.