Japan Housing Starts Fall 5.1%

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

Housing starts dropped 5.1 percent year-on-year in August, much faster than the 0.2 percent slight fall in the previous month. Economists had expected a decrease of 3.3 percent.

Data showed that new construction was contracted in all categories, including owned, rented, issued, and built for sale.

The seasonally adjusted annualized number of housing starts rose to 777,000 in August from 773,000 in July.

Data also showed that construction orders received by the big 50 contractors grew 8.7 percent annually in August, following a 62.8 percent jump a month ago.