Japanese company Sekisui House quietly becomes Americas fifth-largest homebuilder

Leading Japanese homebuilder Sekisui House is quietly expanding operations in the U.S., bringing new investment and innovation to a home construction sector that is racing to keep pace with demand.Last January, Sekisui House acquired major U.S.homebuilder MDC Holdings, which builds single-family homes under the name Richmond American Homes, in a $5 billion cash deal.Sekisui House also owns American subsidiaries Woodside Homes, Holt Homes, Chesmar Homes, and Hubble Homes.

Together, the company estimates those subsidiaries will deliver 15,000 new homes annually across 16 states.It would make Sekisui House the fifth-largest builder in the United States by units, based on 2023 completion statistics compiled by trade publication ProBuilder.While Sekisui House’s construction stats remain far behind the biggest U.S.

builders such as Lennar and D.R.Horton, the company’s quiet expansion has made it a significant player in the U.S.

market.In Japan, Sekisui House is a high-end builder focused on custom homes, and the country’s No.2 builder by revenue.

But with Japan’s housing market decelerating due to a rapidly aging and shrinking population, the company has turned to America to expand its opportunities for growth.Sekisui House CEO Yoshihiro Nakai said last year that the MDC acquisition “marks a significant advancement of our strategy to expand in the U.S.and bring the value of our philosophies and technology to U.S.

homebuilding.”He added, “We believe that we can become a one-of-a-kind entity in the U.S.by combining Japanese and U.S.

technologies and, above all, sharing our passion for providing quality housing.”As soon as this month, Sekisui House plans to send a team of 20 experts to the U.S.to begin training local contractors such as carpenters, marking the company’s largest overseas training program to date.The company hopes the new training program will help it grapple with a labor shortage that has plagued the U.S.

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