Japan’s housing starts rose 6.1% year-on-year in August 2026, slowing from an 8.2% increase in the previous month and marking the mildest pace in the current five-month expansion streak. The latest result also fell short of market expectations for a 7.0% gain, as growth eased in rental housing (6.5% vs 10.0% in July) and built-for-sale homes (6.4% vs 14.6%). Meanwhile, owner-occupied housing growth accelerated slightly (1.0% vs 0.4%), while starts of issued housing rebounded sharply (228.6% vs -24.4%) and prefabricated housing returned to growth (12.3% vs -6.9%). Starts of two-by-four homes also declined at a softer pace (-0.9% vs -8.5%).
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