Major housing developers in Japan FY 2023, based on unit sales

With almost 37.5 thousand units sold in the fiscal year 2023, Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd. recorded the highest unit sales among the leading homebuilders in Japan. Sekisui House, Ltd. ranked second with approximately 34.2 thousand units sold during that fiscal year. 

Housing construction in Japan

The number of housing starts in Japan has fluctuated between about 800 and 900 thousand per year in the past decade. Japanese consumers are known for their preference for new properties, and low interest rates have created a favorable environment for home buyers in the past decades. As a result, Japan's housing stock keeps growing and has already surpassed the number of households in the country.

Industry faces population decline

It is expected that the Japanese population will fall from 124.4 million in 2023 to around 105 million by 2050. As Japan’s population continues to shrink and the country’s leadership remains comparably strict on immigration, further depopulation of rural areas will lead to more and more homes becoming vacant. Already today, Japan has several million unoccupied homes. The demographic change is likely to impact the supply side as well, as fewer young people will enter the construction industry, thus increasing the already apparent shortage of workers.