FX.co ★ Japan Housing Starts Decline 5.3% In May

Japan's housing starts declined less significantly than anticipated in May, after experiencing a sharp recovery the previous month, according to data released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism on Friday.

In May, housing starts fell by 5.3 percent compared to the previous year, following a substantial 13.9 percent increase in April. Economists had predicted a larger decrease of 6.1 percent.

The data indicated that new construction saw a contraction across all categories, including owned, rented, issued, and properties built for sale.

The seasonally adjusted annualized number of housing starts dropped to 813,000 in May, down from 880,000 in April.

Additionally, construction orders received by Japan's top 50 contractors rose by 2.1 percent year-over-year in May, though this was a significant slowdown from the 26.4 percent growth recorded in the previous month.