Deals in build-to-rent market ready for lift-off in Australia, says US giant

According to The Australian Financial Review, deal-making in build-to-rent developments could take off within months as more projects are completed, leased up and join the rapidly emerging sector for the new housing form, according to one of the sector’s biggest players.
US property giant Greystar has been one of the lead players in the nascent sector, with about 1900 units under construction, worth around $2.3 billion. It has another 600 units in the pipeline valued at $400 million.
Under the new rules announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers in May, a long-standing prohibition on foreign ownership of established housing would no longer apply to foreign investors wishing to acquire existing build-to-rent housing.
The federal government hopes that easing the path of foreign capital into a secondary market for BTR assets will stimulate further development. So far, there have been few if any sales of major BTR assets to secondary buyers, with most still under development.
But in the meantime, the development of new build-to-rent projects has been buffeted by high construction costs and interest rates. Commencements for new rental units fell to 5290 in FY2024, well down on the 6543 starts achieved a year earlier. Further ahead, prospects brighten, however: by 2027, starts would jump well past 8000, according to Oxford Economics Australia.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/deals-in-build-to-rent-market-ready-for-lift-off-says-us-giant-20240805-p5jzl6
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