Japan Housing Starts Fall 2.5%

(RTTNews) - Japan's housing starts decreased for the eighth straight month in December, though at a slower-than-expected pace, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism showed on Friday.

Housing starts dropped 2.5 percent year-on-year in December, faster than the 1.8 percent fall in the previous month. Economists had expected a decrease of 3.7 percent.

Data showed that new construction was contracted sharply by 14.7 percent in the built-for-sale segment, while growths were seen in rented, issued, and owned categories.

The seasonally adjusted annualized number of housing starts increased to 787,000 in December from 775,000 in November.

Data also showed that construction orders received by the big 50 contractors rebounded 8.1 percent annually in December, following a 10.2 percent plunge a month ago.