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Japan's Housing Starts Increase at Faster Rate in May

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New housing construction starts in Japan rose 33.9% year over year in May to 57,877 units, according to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) on Tuesday.

The reading beat the consensus forecast of a 31.8% increase tracked by Investing.com, and compared with an 11.4% expansion recorded in the previous month.

By category, owner-occupied homes grew 31.8% year over year to 15,708 units, while rental housing construction edged up 33.3% to 25,175 units.

Meanwhile, built-for-sale housing starts edged up 39.2% year over year to 16,600 units.

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