Japanese housing starts slow down in September

Growth in the Japanese housing sector slowed down in September, official figures released on Friday showed.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, housing starts grew 2.6% year-on-year in September, falling short of analysts’ expectations for a 5.8% and slumping from a 8.8% reading climb in August.

The latest increase marked the slowest rate of growth since April.

Meanwhile, the number of annualised housing starts declined to 900,000 in September from 931,000 in August, falling short of the 936,000 reading analyst had expected.