"The policies being implemented at the moment are generally seen as positive for real estate"
-Andy Hurfurt, head of investment consulting at CBRE
Japan housing starts growth has accelerated even further last month, while construction orders received by big contractors declined after surging in February, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said Tuesday. New housing starts improved for the seventh consecutive month and extended yearly gains to 7.3% in March, exceeding market projection of rising 5.5% and February's increase of 3%. Meanwhile, the number of annualized dwelling units fell to 904,000, compared with 944,000 in the prior month and stayed below the consensus forecast of 890,000. Data also showed that the amount of construction orders received by 50 big constructors tumbled 3.4% year-on-year, reversing the 16.3% gain logged in February.
"The policies being implemented at the moment are generally seen as positive for real estate," Andy Hurfurt, head of investment consulting at CBRE in Tokyo, told the paper. "To a degree the BoJ is telling people that they are going to underwrite the J-REIT market."
"They've fired a big cannon that creates asset price inflation without the necessary structural reforms," Paul Guest, head of Asia research at LaSalle investment management, told the FT. "The single biggest worry is that this is a flash in the pan."
© Dukascopy Bank SA