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Australia’s building industry is going global, with many of the nation’s biggest operators now internationally backed. Australia’s biggest builder turned out an unprecedented 8000 homes in the 2026 financial year, but it’s not Australian owned. And with one in 10 Aussie homes already being built by Japanese owned or backed firms, international giants are expected to increasingly dominate the nation’s home building.
Sumitomo Forestry Australia, a division of Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Forestry, now owns controlling stakes in major builders including Metricon, Henley, Wisdom and Scott Park Group. RELATED: Japanese corporate giants move on Melbourne to fund housing fix Japanese investors surge into Australian property as Chinese sell Japanese giant Obayashi snaps up builder Multiplex for almost $1bn Across the four businesses it oversaw the construction of 8038 homes around the nation in the past year, according to the Housing Industry Association’s latest Housing 100 report. The next biggest, with 3764 commencements, was Perth-based ABN Group, which operates Homebuyers Centre and Boutique Homes on the east coast, while NSW-centred NEX Building Group started 3585 homes to become the third biggest builder in the nation.
NEX Building Group is also Japanese owned, with Asahi Kasei Homes Corporation owning an 80 per cent stake in the company. NEX also owns a significant stake of Simonds Homes, at just under 11 per cent, with that firm ranked 10th overall. Japanese backed or owned firms are now behind one in 10 Aussie homes.
Victoria-based and Australian-owned Mirrastone was the nation’s fourth biggest builder, with 3237 starts in the 12 months. At a state level, Victoria’s biggest builder was Sumitomo, followed by Mirrastone. In NSW, locally owned Parkview Constructions topped the list, followed by Japanese-owned NEX Building Group.
In Queensland, local building veterans Hutchies topped the list, but were just 300 builds clear of Sumitomo. The Japanese firm was also second biggest in South Australia, behind the state’s own Hickinbotham Group of Companies NEX was also the biggest builder in Tasmania while Japan-owned Rawson Group, controlled by Tokyo-based Daiwa House Industry Co. was at the top in the Australian Capital Territory. HIA chief economist Tim Reardon said that the reality was one in 10 Aussie homes were now being built by Japanese owned or backed companies, and that share was likely to rise in the next five years as bigger firms claimed a bigger share of the market.
Mr Reardon added that while this wasn’t a new trend, it was the first year Sumitomo had its Australian holdings amalgamated in the report — and reflected the first full financial year that it had owned Metricon. HIA chief economist Tim Reardon expects big builders, including internationally backed ones, to increase their share of Aussie home building in the years ahead. While the report saw a broader uptick in home building in the past 12 months, the economist noted this had seen smaller builders around the nation pick up a larger share of the market than in the 2025 financial year.
However, with significant headwinds in the coming year after three interest rate hikes, and with more potentially on the way, as well as the prospect of two state elections delaying buyer activity in Victoria and NSW before June 30, 2027, it was likely building activity would slow. In those circumstances, Mr Reardon said he expected the share of homes being built by the nation’s biggest builders to rise. “I would expect to see the larger businesses increase their share ... it won’t be just through acquisitions that they achieve that outcome, it will also be through things like more efficient delivery of new homes for a variety of reasons,” he said.
In the latest report, HIA found that 70,553 homes were built in the latest financial year, a 9 per cent increase from the 2025 financial year’s 64,481 new builds. New house builds, and the companies that favour them, continue to dominate housing construction across the country. It indicated house builds rose by 11 per cent to 52,058, while semi-detached homes, such as townhouses, had a 14 per cent up tick to account for 7397 of the builds commenced by the nation’s biggest builders.
Multi-unit homes were nominally flat at 11,098. The big builders were most active in Victoria, starting work on 21,070 new homes across the state — about 30 per cent of the national total. Queensland was next at 18,223, followed by NSW at 13,827, though the numbers do not track works completed by smaller, boutique building groups.
The total number of housing starts, including the smaller builders, for the 2026 financial year was 201,590, meaning the 100 biggest builders accounted for about 35 per cent of the total. Sumitomo Forestry managing director Yasuhiro Odagane said their success reflected the benefits of their partnership with four of Australia’s biggest building firms. While their backers may be offshore, the builders producing Australian homes are local.
“As we approach the second anniversary of our partnership with Metricon, we are proud to see Metricon, Henley, Scott Park Group and Wisdom Homes together recognised as Australia’s largest home-building group,” Mr Odagane said. “This achievement reflects the trust of our customers and the dedication of our employees, trades, suppliers and subcontractors. We thank them and remain committed to continually improving the quality of our homes and services.” News Corp understands that without the amalgamation approach, Metricon would have been Australia’s biggest builder overall by a few hundred homes.
Chief executive Brad Duggan said this marked their 11th straight year leading Australia’s building industry, having spent 10 of them as the nation’s biggest builder and this year having “helped propel Sumitomo Forestry Australia Group to the top of the Housing 100”. “Metricon remains Australia’s largest home builder and the largest home building business within Australia’s largest home building group,” Mr Duggan said. It is also understood the builder increased its number of homes from the prior financial year.
Mr Duggan said their growth had been led by first-home buyers, families, investors and others looking to knockdown and replace an existing home. Metricon chief executive Brad Duggan believes the coming 12 months will be challenging for the industry, particularly the final six months of the current financial year. However, he said he was expecting the year ahead to be challenging.
“The sharp change in sentiment following the May rate rise and federal budget will take time to appear in construction figures,” Mr Duggan said. “Australia does not have an underlying housing-demand problem; it has a housing-confidence problem. “People still want homes, but repeated rate rises, cost-of-living pressures and policy uncertainty are stopping many from acting.
“The next six months will largely be supported by yesterday’s sales pipeline. The six months after that will reflect today’s confidence shock. Unless conditions stabilise, Australia risks deepening its housing supply shortage at precisely the time it needs more homes.” Mirrastone, formerly AHB Group, was the second biggest builder in Victoria, and is still fully Australian owned.
Chief executive and managing director Nathan Jenkinson said having grown to become one of the nation’s biggest builders was a milestone for the firm. “We’re proudly Australian-owned, Victorian at heart and committed to building homes that meet the needs of the communities we serve,” Mr Jenkinson said. “This ranking is recognition of what our people, partners and trades have built together.
“We believe you shouldn’t have to choose between the strength of a major builder and the care of a local one. We’ve built Mirrastone to deliver both – the scale to take on big challenges and the local knowledge to get the details right.” Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.
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Source: realestate.com.au
