April 2022 Japan Housing & Non-Residential Construction Starts
April 2022 Japan Housing Starts
April total housing starts edged up 2.2% to 76,179 units. Some consumer weakness was evident as owner occupied housing fell 8.1%. Rental housing gained 2.1%. The mansion condominium market advanced 17.7%. Wooden housing fell 3.5% to 39,625 units. Post and beam starts fell 4% to 31,172 units. Wooden prefab starts posted a 7% gain to 828 units and total prefab housing rose 8.2% to 8,693 units. Platform frame declined 2.3% to 7,625 units. Results of 2×4 starts by housing type were as follows: single family custom homes fell 5.1% to 2,407 units, rental housing slowed 2.8% to 4,234 units and built for sale spec housing increased 7.3% to 970 units.
April 2022 Non-Residential Construction
Total non-residential starts fell 1.2% to 3,974 units and wooden non-residential starts declined 6.3% to 1,431 units. Results diverged in terms of floor area with total floor area jumping 18.7% to 3,895,753m2, but wooden floor dropped 17.5%. The YOY declines in wood were attributable to softness in agricultural buildings as well as elderly and social welfare facilities. Relative competitiveness of wood versus steel frame construction has also recently been cited as a headwind. On a positive note we saw significant wood use gains in manufacturing, restaurants and accommodation facilities.