Housing Starts Fall 32.1% in July

Domestic housing starts fell 32.1% year on year to 65,794 in July, making the eighth straight month of decline, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Starts for condominiums plunged 71% to 3961, which is a record-low since January 1985. The Land official mentioned it was in the process of inventories-adjustment, although they are decreasing. While consumers are cautious about big-spending due to deteriorating job and income conditions, banks are still reluctant to lend money to those developers.