Contraction of the New-Build Housing Market Due to Population Decline

「Housing policy is undergoing a major shift from new construction toward existing housing stock, and this is an era in which a transition from the quantity of housing stock to its quality and utilization is strongly required. The Company is also promoting innovation and seeking further growth.」

「Addressing issues including the decline in the working-age population and the increase in single-person households due to accelerating population aging and the declining birthrate is a challenge. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is also a major challenge in the construction industry.」

「Although accommodative monetary policy continued, mortgage rates were trending upward and housing material prices were also rising, with the housing industry continuing to face an uncertain outlook.」

「In the next fiscal year, the impact on economic conditions is expected to be extremely significant due to COVID-19 and surging prices for timber, steel and resources such as crude oil. The outlook is also expected to remain uncertain regarding real estate prices and housing supply and demand, given the upward trend in mortgage rates and other factors.」

「The housing industry also faced an uncertain outlook for future housing demand due to the wood shock's impact on persistently high timber prices, the upward trend in steel prices, and the effects of revisions to mortgage tax deductions.」

「Although low mortgage rates continued under accommodative monetary policy, the housing industry also faced an uncertain outlook due to the impact of the so-called wood shock, in which global timber shortages drove prices higher.」

「In the next fiscal year, the housing industry is expected to remain subject to uncertainty regarding real estate prices and housing supply and demand, as in the prior fiscal year, amid the significant impact on economic conditions of the third declaration of a state of emergency related to COVID-19, issued in April 2021, among other factors.」

「Although some recovery was seen in owner-occupied housing in new housing starts statistics and elsewhere, total housing starts continued to decline year on year, and the outlook for housing demand remained uncertain.」

「Although government support measures for home purchases continued to provide a catalyst for improvement, demand for housing construction for both owner-occupied and rental homes remained uncertain due to persistently high construction costs ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and concerns about excess rental housing supply.」

「According to housing starts statistics for May 2019, owner-occupied housing increased year on year for the 8th consecutive month, while rental housing declined for the 9th consecutive month. Housing for sale, particularly condominiums, also saw a significant decline, with total housing starts down 5.7% in April and 8.7% in May.」

「Although conditions for home purchases remained favorable, including negative interest rates, housing starts statistics for May 2018 showed year-on-year declines for 4 consecutive months for owner-occupied homes and 12 consecutive months for rental homes.」

「In fiscal 2017, new housing starts decreased year on year by 3.3% for owner-occupied homes, 4.0% for rental homes and 0.3% for homes for sale. Total starts fell 2.8% year on year to 946 thousand units, the first decline in 3 years.」

「The Group is working to restructure its business portfolio in line with the social and economic environment, which encompasses issues including a decline in population and the number of households, declining birthrates and population aging, diversification of family structures, and changes in urban structures,」

「The market is expected to remain on a gradual recovery path, but housing needs are expected to become increasingly diverse as the number and composition of households change due to population aging and decline, and as the government's shift toward a housing policy focused on existing housing stock promotes the distribution of existing homes.」

「Japan's future housing market is expected to see a gradual decline in the new housing market as the working-age population decreases, while the number of deteriorated and vacant homes is trending upward, making it unavoidable to address these issues in a society with a declining population.」

「Japan's future housing market is expected to see a gradual decline in the new housing market as the working-age population decreases, while the number of deteriorated and vacant homes is trending upward, making it unavoidable to address these issues in a society with a declining population.」