They may not attract the same attention as US numbers but Japanese housing data paint a similarly bleak picture. Housing starts in August fell 43 per cent to the lowest level in more than 40 years.

Some of this is technical. Scurrilous architects had been fabricating compliance certification, falsely claiming their buildings met earthquake resistance standards. The subsequent government clampdown elongates the approval process, hence the big bulge in new homes in June before the law took effect, and the big drop in the following months.