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In 2025, approximately ** housing starts were initiated in Japan. This represented a decline of *** percent compared to the previous year. It was the third time since 1995 that the number of new dwellings started fell below **.

Housing construction in Japan

Both, the number and floor area of new residential construction projects, declined compared to 2024. This development comes amid an increase in mortgage rates and rising costs for construction work, as well as higher costs of living faced by Japanese households in the past years. Broken down by type of building, apartment construction starts exceeded the number of single-family home construction starts for the third time in the past decade. Looking at the number of construction starts by use, construction starts for condominiums for sale and single-family homes saw the sharpest decline.

Housing stock in Japan

Japan’s housing stock comprises more than ** million dwellings, with detached houses accounting for the largest number of occupied dwellings, followed by apartment buildings. As a result of the demographic development, the growing housing stock already exceeds the number of households, resulting in rising vacancy rates across the country. According to the newest figures, around *** million dwellings were estimated to not meet the requirements of a new seismic code for buildings introduced in 1981, a share of around ** percent which the government aims to reduce to zero by 2025.