Australia BTR Gains Ground as Supply Scales Up, Capital Base Broadens: MTD TV

Australia’s build-to-rent sector is moving from concept to execution, with growing operational stock helping to attract new capital and reshape investment strategies, according to executives from BTR players Model, Kio and Local Residential appearing in a panel at Mingtiandi’s APAC Residential Forum 2026.

Joined by MSCI analyst Benjamin Martin-Henry, the speakers on Thursday’s MTD TV programme, which was sponsored by Yardi, pointed to a rapid expansion in completed projects as an inflection point for the sector, with investors gaining confidence from improving visibility on rents, yields and exit pricing. Data from advisory firm Franklin Street shows that Australia’s stock of completed BTR homes rose from 2,800 units at the beginning of 2023 to 12,600 at the end of last year.

Rory Hunter, founder and chief executive of Melbourne-based Model, said the market has shifted decisively as early concerns over viability have given way to proven performance. The “vast majority” of operational assets are outperforming their underwrites, he said, giving new entrants the ability to benchmark returns and provide comfort to investors.

“When I first started looking at build-to-rent four years ago, the big question was: does it work?” said Hunter, whose firm targets Australia’s east coast with projects of 150-300 units each. “A lot of the traditional build-to-sell developers really didn’t understand the sector.”

Early Days for Sector

Hunter told MTD TV that Australia’s structural housing shortage and population growth underpin a long-term opportunity. He described the current landscape as “just the beginning” of what could become a trillion-dollar asset class.

Sam Bisla, founder and managing director of Sydney-based Kio Investment Management, agreed that the sector remains at an early stage, with the existing stock of roughly 12,000 BTR units representing 0.1 percent of the country’s total residential supply.

Bisla highlighted strong leasing fundamentals in targeted submarkets, noting that vacancy rates in some inner Melbourne locations are as low as 0.4 percent, supporting the case for new supply. He also pointed to Brisbane, where Kio has two assets, as a standout market, citing favourable planning timelines, robust demographics and rental growth.

“When you look at the Brisbane submarkets, or some of the Melbourne submarkets, Brisbane outperforms pretty strong,” Bisla said. “Land price, compared to Sydney, it’s a fraction. We got our planning approval in four weeks, versus Sydney — I don’t know anyone who’s done a deal in Sydney that’s done it in quicker than a year.”

Feedback Loop in Motion

The maturing BTR sector is drawing a broader range of capital, including domestic institutions across the risk spectrum, said Chris Axsentieff, head of investments at Macquarie Asset Management-backed Local Residential.

“We’ve got Australia’s three biggest funds that are now active in the sector from development through to core — that’s only going to continue to fuel further investment from small and medium funds, which is really exciting,” said Axsentieff, whose company has 2,100 operational units across Melbourne and Queensland and a development pipeline of 2,000 more.

The emergence of operational assets and transaction evidence is helping to establish pricing benchmarks, said Martin-Henry, head of Pacific private assets research at MSCI.

“The feedback loop between operating data and transaction evidence is how any asset class matures,” Martin-Henry said. “Australia’s build-to-rent market has now entered that phase.”

Japan Next Week

The APAC Residential Forum shifts to Japan next week for a panel discussion covering Asia’s most developed multi-family market.

Powered by ongoing urbanisation and a limited supply of new homes, residential rents in Tokyo’s 23 wards grew by an average 7.1 percent in 2025, according to Savills, helping to drive continued interest in the sector from both global institutions and local investment managers. 

Leaders from Alyssa Partners, Gaw Capital Partners, Samurai Capital and Savills will share their experiences and provide insights on what to expect from Japan’s multi-family market in 2026. The session will be streamed live on Tuesday 24 March at 10am Hong Kong time.