Summary of Research Findings

New housing starts in FY2019 declined slightly, as the last-minute demand before consumption tax hike in October 2019 in the first half of the year was followed by recoil reduction in the latter half. Considering the trends of the past tax hike, government took actions such as expanding tax reduction on housing loans and introducing ‘next-generation housing point system’ to standardize housing demand. Due to the initiatives, the level of recoil reduction remained moderate compared to the times of last two consumption tax hikes.
Facing unprecedented situation of COVID-19 crisis, economic condition surrounding the market worsened and consumer sentiment dropped. In addition, as house makers refrained from sales activities and holding promotional events at the beginning of the fiscal year, it is assumed that the detached house market cannot avoid shrinkage in FY2020.
On the other hand, as the first state of emergency was lifted in May 2020, economic activities are returning to normal, and in the detached house market, companies are back to sales activities with infection prevention measures. Infection status still needs to be watched carefully, however, with new housing products adapting to the era of “With Corona” and with growth in demand for detached houses driven by increasing number of people working from home and staying home longer, the market is projected to climb out of the doldrums.

 

Noteworthy Topics

Trends of Detached Houses in the Era of “With Corona”

Outspread of COVID-19 from early 2020 brought drastic changes to market offerings at house makers. New demand that had never been so obvious rose, such as room layouts and interior designs that are suited for COVID-19 infection prevention and ideas to create houses more adaptable to telework and longer stay-home hours. Each and every house makers are acting with swiftness and perceptiveness to the new demand, and are developing new offerings for FY2020 onwards.
Characteristic offerings amid COVID-19 calamity are such as: designing a workspace for telework/work from home, installing air cleaning system using ventilation/conditioning system, using equipment with higher energy saving performance like double sash window frame to minimizes utility cost which has increased due to longer hours spent at home, and developing room layout that prevents bringing viruses into home.
While conventional needs for convenience remains, i.e. having easy access to workplace or city center, prolongation of stay-home owing to prevalence of telework has increased demand for detached houses in suburbs that has more space and comfort. A trend is also seen that, coupled with reasonable price, ready-built houses supplied by house builders are particularly selling well. 

 

Research Outline