Number of new housing units started in Japan 1995-2024

In 2024, approximately ***** thousand housing starts were initiated in Japan. This represented a decline of *** percent compared to the previous year. It was the second time since 1995 that the number of new dwellings started fell below *** thousand.

Housing construction in Japan

Both, the number of and floor area of new construction projects declined compared to 2023. Broken down by type of building, apartment construction starts exceeded the number of single-family home construction starts for the second time in the past decade. Looking at the number of construction starts by use, construction starts for single family homes for sale saw the sharpest decline, while construction starts for homes for rent remained the largest category.

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. As of 2018, 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.