Sekisui, Daiwa House to Cut Spending on House Lots, Nikkei Says

By Aya Takada

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Sekisui House Ltd. and Daiwa House Industry Co. will slash spending on lots for homes as Japan's housing market deteriorates, Nikkei English News said today.

Sekisui House, Japan's largest builder of detached houses, will stop buying lots for single-family homes, cutting such spending for the year ending Jan. 31 by 25 percent to about 50 billion yen ($509 million), Nikkei said without naming a source.

Daiwa House halted purchases of plots for condominiums, as its sales of the housing units fell 26 percent in the six months ended Sept. 30, the newswire said. The company will reduce its projection for lot purchases this fiscal year by about 40 percent to less than 70 billion yen, Nikkei said.

Sekisui on Sept. 1 cut its full-year net income forecast by 14 percent to 48 billion yen on slowing sales and higher-than- expected costs. Daiwa House last week cut its annual profit forecast 49 percent to 26.5 billion yen. Both companies are based in Osaka, western Japan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aya Takada in Tokyo atakada2@bloomberg.net