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Japan's housing starts decreased more-than-expected in April and at the fastest pace in nearly three years, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism showed on Wednesday.
Housing starts plunged 11.9 percent year-on-year in April, much faster than the 3.2 percent drop in March. Economists were looking for a decline of 4.3 percent.
In addition, this was the sharpest decline since dwelling starts declined 12.8 percent in June 2020.
Data showed that new construction contracted in all categories, namely owned, rented, issued, and built for sales. Construction with the purpose of issuing alone plummeted 48.9 percent.
The seasonally adjusted annualized number of housing starts fell to 771,000 in April from 877,000 in the previous month.
Data also showed that construction orders received by the big 50 contractors rebounded sharply by 16.2 percent yearly in April, after a 4.1 percent decrease in the prior month.
