30.08.201904:45:00UTC+00Japan Housing Starts Fall In July

Japan's housing starts fell in July after rising in the previous month, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism showed on Friday.

Housing starts decreased 4.1 percent year-on-year in July, after a 0.3 percent rise in June. Economists had forecast the housing starts to fall 5.4 percent.

Annualized housing starts fell to 910,000 in July from 922,000 in the previous month. The expected level was 899,000. In the same period last year, housing starts totaled 950,000.

Data also showed that construction orders received by big 50 contractors grew a 26.9 percent year-on-year in July, after a 4.2 percent decrease in June. This was the biggest rise since March.