Japans housing starts dropped for the ninth successive month in March, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism showed Friday. Housing starts decreased 8.3% year-on-year in March, much faster than the 2.6% decline in February. Annualized housing starts totaled 895,000 in March versus 926,000 in the previous month. The construction orders received by big 50 contractors also dropped 4% yearly in March after a sharp growth of 19.2% in the prior month.