The increase in the construction floor area has recently been weak, but it is following a moderate recovery trend. With respect to housing investment, housing starts in terms of the seasonallyadjusted annual rate reached a substantially high level in the fourth quarter 1996, partly reflecting the stepped-up demand ahead of the rise in the consumption tax rate. Later, they declined in reaction.
In terms of the volume of total transactions, it declined from 79% in 2016 to 73% in 2019. And in terms of the value of transactions, it fell from 54% to 48%.