Japanese Housing Starts Post 4th Consecutive Monthly Gains

Total housing starts in Japan posted their fourth consecutive monthly increase in June, rising 7.3% to 76,312 units. Owner occupied housing increased 10.6%, while rental housing rose 11.8%. Total wooden constructed housing posted an increase of 11.1% to 45,750 units and total wood floor are showed a significant 23.2% jump. Post and beam starts were up 8.6% to 35,804 units. Wooden prefab starts advanced 10.6% to 1,058 units and total pre-fab housing was up 4.2% to 10,822 units.

Notably, as a percentage of all housing, wooden construction reached a 60% market share. To put this number in context, the average market share for wooden housing between 2000 and 20009 stood at around 46%. Between 2010 and 2019, the average increased to 56%. Wooden housing continues to gain ground as a measure of the overall housing market.

Total June non-residential starts totaled 3,851 units with a total floor area of 3.5 million m2. Between January and June total non-residential starts increased 3.3% and wooden non-residential starts increased 3.4%.


FEA compiles the Wood Markets News from various 3rd party sources to provide readers with the latest news impacting forest product markets. Opinions or views expressed in these articles do not necessarily represent those of FEA.