Japan’s housing starts fell 2.7% year-on-year in September 2026, reversing a 6.1% increase in the previous month and missing market expectations for a 2.9% rise. This marked the first annual decline since March, as construction starts contracted across all major categories: owner-occupied housing (-3.4% vs 1.0% in August), rental housing (-1.6% vs 6.5%), built-for-sale homes (-4.5% vs 6.4%), prefabricated housing (-6.2% vs 12.3%), and two-by-four homes (-0.4% vs -0.9%).