Japan wide April 2025 housing starts drop 26 percent year on year

Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) released construction statistics for April 2025 on May 30, revealing a sharp year-on-year (YoY) decline in new housing starts nationwide.

April 2025 starts fell to 56,188, down 26.6% from the same month last year. Total floor area also declined 27.6% to 4.177 million square meters.

Both figures marked the first YoY drop in three months.

Breakdown by Housing Type

• Custom Built Single-Family Homes (SFH): 13,635 units (down 23.7% YoY), reversing last month’s increase.

• Rental Condominiums: 24,939 units (down 27.9% YoY), the first decline in three months.

• Strata - Title SFH & Condos: 16,148 units (down 29.7% YoY), also the first decline in three months.

• Of these, strata-title condo starts fell 36.9% to 7,709 units, ending a four-month streak of gains.

• Subdivided SFH starts declined 22.8% to 8,169 units, following a temporary increase in March. 

Regional Breakdown Across Japan’s Major Metro Areas

• Greater Tokyo Area: 20,695 units (down 22.6% YoY)

  • Custom Built SFH: 3,077 units ( - 18.6%)

  • Rental Condos: 10,749 units ( - 10.7%)

  • Strata-Title SFH & Condos: 6,729 units ( - 38.0%)

• Greater Nagoya Area: 5,356 units (down 36.2% YoY)

  • Custom Built SFH: 1,979 units ( - 27.0%)

  • Rental Condos: 1,555 units ( - 53.0%)

  • Strata-Title SFH & Condos: 1,765 units ( - 21.6%)

• Greater Osaka Area: 10,145 units (down 25.7% YoY)

  • Custom Built SFH: 1,802 units ( - 22.9%)

  • Rental Condos: 4,993 units ( - 29.1%)

  • Strata - Title SFH & Condos: 3,311 units ( - 22.2%)

Further Reading:

E-Stat Portal Site April 2025 Starts (Japanese only; offering more granular data than outlined above.)

Source:

R.E. Port News (Japanese only)