Japan Housing Starts Drop 0.6% In September

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

Housing starts dropped 0.6 percent year-on-year in September, much slower than the 5.1 percent fall in the previous month. Economists had expected a decrease of 4.1 percent.

Data showed that new construction was contracted in owned, issued, and built for sale categories, while an increase was seen in the rented segment.

The seasonally adjusted annualized number of housing starts rose to 800,000 in September from 777,000 in August.

Data also showed that construction orders received by the big 50 contractors plunged 21.3 percent annually in September, reversing an 8.7 percent rise a month ago.