December 2024 Japan Housing Starts Report
December total housing starts declined 2.5% to 62,957 units. Wooden housing starts bucked the downward trend, registering a gain of 4.7% to finish at 37,409 units. Post and beam starts increased 6.4% to 29,455 units. Total pre-fab starts nudged up 2.1% to 7,598 units. Platform frame starts were flat at 7,156 units. By housing type 2×4 custom ordered owner-occupied homes were up 2.8% to 2,487 units, rentals were up 1.3% to 4,050 units and built for sale spec homes fell 18.2% to 619 units.
Japan 2024 Full Year Housing Starts Results
For the full year Japan housing starts dipped under the 800,000 level for the first time since 2009. The year finished with a total of 792,133 units, a decline of 3.4%. Wooden housing starts held up comparatively well, posting a 0.5% decline to 452,252 units. Wooden prefab finished up 3.3% to 10,672 units. However, total pre-fab starts fell 10% to 93,080 units. Two by four starts bested total pre-fab starts for the first time ever, gaining 4.7% to 95,103 units. As a percentage of total housing, the market share for 2×4 starts rose from 11.1 to 12%.
December 2024 Non-Residential Construction
December total non-residential starts increased 4.0% to 3,524 units but total floor area dropped 23% to 2,328,699m2. Wooden non-residential starts increased 8% to 1,337 units and floor area improved 2.0% to 250,742m2. In order, the top five segments for wood use were: elderly, medical care and social welfare facilities, restaurants and accommodation, mixed residential and commercial buildings, business services and commercial wholesale & retail.
2024 Non-Residential Construction Full Year Results
For the full year total non-residential starts declined 6% to 41,627 units with total floor area falling 17% to 31,408,830m2. Wooden non-residential starts and floor area fell 7% to 15,632 units and 2,980,269m2 respectively. By number of starts the market share for wooden construction held steady at 38%. Measured by floor area wooden construction increased from 8.6% to 9.5% of the total market.
Looking at wooden non-residential by building types, reductions were evident in agricultural, manufacturing, utilities and real estate segments. On a positive note mixed residential & commercial, transportation and logistics, restaurant and accommodation, public buildings and business services posted gains.