Japan-owned Sumitomo Forestry named Australia’s biggest builder

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 t...