---
title: "Japan Housing Starts Drop Less than Expected"
type: "News"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/274251692.md"
description: "Japan’s housing starts fell 1.3% year-on-year in December 2025, easing sharply from an 8.5% drop in the previous month and beating market expectations of a 4.1% decline.While marking the eighth contraction of the year, it was the mildest pace since September 2024.The slowdown reflected softer declines in starts for owner-occupied homes (-1.8% vs. -9.5% in November) and rental units (-3.4% vs. -5.5%).In contrast, built-for-sale housing returned to growth (1.9% vs. -11.3%), alongside a rebound in two-by-four homes (2.8% vs. -2.7%).Meanwhile, prefabricated housing contracted more sharply (-6.1% vs - 4.1%)."
datetime: "2026-01-30T05:11:01.000Z"
locales:
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/274251692.md)
  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/274251692.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/274251692.md)
---

> Supported Languages: [简体中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/274251692.md) | [繁體中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/274251692.md)


# Japan Housing Starts Drop Less than Expected

Japan’s housing starts fell 1.3% year-on-year in December 2025, easing sharply from an 8.5% drop in the previous month and beating market expectations of a 4.1% decline.

While marking the eighth contraction of the year, it was the mildest pace since September 2024.

The slowdown reflected softer declines in starts for owner-occupied homes (-1.8% vs. -9.5% in November) and rental units (-3.4% vs. -5.5%).

In contrast, built-for-sale housing returned to growth (1.9% vs. -11.3%), alongside a rebound in two-by-four homes (2.8% vs. -2.7%).

Meanwhile, prefabricated housing contracted more sharply (-6.1% vs - 4.1%).

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