Japan's housing starts expanded at the fastest pace in 10 months in April, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said Tuesday.
Housing starts grew by more-than-expected 9 percent year-on-year in April, the biggest growth since June 2015, when it climbed 16.3 percent. Economists had expected 4.1 percent growth after posting 8.4 percent increase in March.
Annualized housing starts rose to 995,000 from 993,000 a month ago. It was forecast to rise to 950,000.
Meanwhile, construction orders received by 50 big contractors declined 16.9 percent on a yearly basis in April after expanding for the first time in three months in March.
This was the biggest fall since last October. Orders had increased 19.8 percent annually in March.
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