The number of housing units built nationwide last year fell below the previous year for the first time in three years. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism attributes this to factors such as rising prices of construction materials and reduced demand.
According to an announcement by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the number of housing units that started construction nationwide last year was 819,623, which was 4.6% lower than the previous year.
The number of housing starts has continued to increase due to the spread of telework during the coronavirus pandemic, but it fell below the previous year for the first time in three years since 2020.
Of these,
the number of "owner-owned" homes, which refers to custom-built homes, was 224,352, a decrease of 11.4% from the previous year.
Additionally,
``Condominiums'', which refers to built-for-sale houses and condominiums, decreased by 3.6% to 246,299 units.
In addition,
``Rental housing,'' which refers to rental housing such as apartments, decreased by 0.3% to 343,894 units.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has analyzed that the decline, which was the first in three years, is likely due to a decline in demand, especially for single-family homes, as a result of rising sales prices due to soaring prices for construction materials. .