日本新建造房屋連続４年増加

Recently the Yomiuri News on-line reported the following:

新設住宅着工９８万戸、１１％増…４年連続増

　国土交通省が３１日発表した２０１３年の新設住宅着工戸数は、前年比１１・０％増の９８万２５戸となった。

　４年連続の増加で、リーマン・ショックの影響が表れる前の０８年（約１０９万戸）以来５年ぶりの高い水準となった。２けたの伸び率は、消費税率が３％から５％に引き上げられる前の１９９６年（１１・８％）以来となる。

　景況感が上向き、購入意欲が高まっていることや、住宅ローン金利が将来上昇するとの思惑も高い伸びにつながった。消費税率引き上げを前にした駆け込み需要も後押ししたとみられる。

　内訳は、持ち家が１３・９％増の３５万４７７２戸、貸家が１１・８％増の３５万６２６３戸、分譲マンションが３・６％増の１２万７５９９戸、分譲一戸建てが１０・０％増の１３万４８８８戸だった。地域別では、首都圏が６・２％増、中部圏が１４・５％増、近畿圏が１２・９％増、その他地域が１３・７％増だった。

（2014年2月1日00時17分  読売新聞）

(試譯文)

     The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced on the 31st that the number of new dwellings that started construction in 2013 was 980,025 units, being an increase of 11.0% compared with last year.

     This increase was continuing for four years and was at a high level for the first time in five years since 2008 (about 1,090,000 houses) before the influence of the Lehman shock appeared. It was at a two-digit pace expansion since 1996 (11.8%), before the consumption tax rate was pulled up from 3% to 5%.

     With increasing business confidence, the buying intention was high; the expectation that mortgage rates would go up in the future was also connected with this high growth. It was concluded that the growth was also backed up by the buying rush made before the rise in the consumption tax rate.

     In the breakdown, for owner-occupied house it was a 13.9 percent increase at 354,772 units. For rental housing it was 356 263 units which was an 11.8 percent increase, for the condominium it was 127,599 units which was a 3.6% increase, the sale-in-lots single house was 134,888 units, an increase of 10.0%. According to area, the increase in the metropolitan area was 6.2%, in the middle region was 14.5%, in the Kinki district was 12.9%, in other areas the increase was 13.7%.

(00:17 on February 1, 2014    Yomiuri Shimbun)

It seems that after many years of deflation Japan’s economy is picking up gradually.