Japan-based real estate and construction giants have spent the past decade quietly building bases across the US housing market. By early 2026, those steps are turning into a visible wave of expansion.
The latest development comes from Tokyo-based Hajime Construction Co., Ltd., which announced on March 10 that it had acquired a 51% stake. Wright Housesa private builder in Utah headquartered near the Wasatch Front.
The deal gives Hajime control of the 30-year-old company, which was founded in 1994 by Derek Wright and his father.
The deal puts Wright Homes on the fence amid a growing trend that has been gaining momentum for years: Japan-based real estate companies expanding into US residential construction by partnering with older local workers.
If the words Houses in Sekisui, Daiwa Housesagain Sumitomo Forestry dominating that narrative until now, the Hajime-Wright Homes deal highlights a growing reality. The list of Japanese companies looking for US real estate opportunities is growing, and their interest in partnering with strong regional builders continues to rise.
Partnerships established in global and local knowledge
In announcing the job, Hajime Construction described Wright Homes as a company with a “strong land acquisition network especially in Utah,” noting that its owner-manager relationship has deep roots in the local community.
“By handling the entire process – from acquiring land in an ideal location to building and selling homes – Wright Homes achieves rapid business operations while maintaining the right scale,” the company said in its announcement.
That disciplined work model was a central attraction.
The press release notes that Hajime identified Wright Homes as a “partner with a well-established business foundation and proven track record,” capable of continued growth through its global positioning and business model. Hajime also highlighted his confidence in the leadership team.
“We were impressed by Derek Wright’s strong character and honest management philosophy,” the company said.
For Derek Wright, the partnership represents an opportunity to accelerate growth without sacrificing the identity the company has built over three decades.
“For more than three decades, we have focused on building strong communities and growing with commitment to the markets we serve,” Wright said in the announcement. “Partnering with Hajime Construction allows us to take the next step in that journey. Their global resources and long-term investment perspective, combined with our well-established brand and experience in acquiring land and developing communities, will enable us to pursue growth opportunities that we would not have been able to achieve on our own.”
The structure maintains continuity: Wright and his team remain involved as executive leaders and minority owners, and the Wright Homes brand will continue to operate as it has historically.
Continuity was important to the Wright family.
“We wanted to keep ownership. We wanted to have skin in the game,” Wright said in an interview Builder’s Day. “We didn’t want to be someone else.”
From a luxury builder to a manufacturing platform
The partnership also connects Hajime with a builder whose name evolution reflects the broad trajectory of many US regional workers.
Wright Homes started in 1994 building luxury homes but switched to building homes in the early 2000s. The financial crisis prompted a restructuring that influenced the company’s long-term operating philosophy.
“We hit the big wall in 2008 like everybody else,” Wright recalled. “We are committed to being very vigilant, responsive and conservative, approaching growth carefully and setting limits on how much we will distribute.”
That disciplined approach has resulted in a builder that now works with a flexible product mix throughout Utah’s main corridor.
“About 55 to 60 percent of what we build is homes,” Wright said. “That’s the level of entry into our market. We’re also doing move-in starter homes, some projects that aren’t very filling, and the over-55 community that’s doing really well right now.”
The company’s geographic focus is on the fast-growing Wasatch Front.
“Most of the time we’re in the Salt Lake Valley,” Wright said. “We have, and will continue to do more in Utah Valley. Those are your two main regions for real estate.”
For Hajime, which built about 9,000 homes in Japan last year, Wright Homes offers both a location in the fast-growing US market and a partner with proven local expertise.
“By combining our expertise in providing more than 9,000 single-family homes in Japan with Wright Homes’ strengths in land acquisition and community-based operations, we aim to develop new markets while achieving continued growth,” said Hajime President Tadayoshi Horiguchi.
Capital meets integration
The logic behind the partnership is not hard to follow.
Utah has become one of the nation’s fastest-growing real estate markets, fueled by a boom in the technology sector and continued immigration. At the same time, competition for land, labor, and development capital has increased.
Wright agreed that the power of scale and balance is still important for builders looking to stay competitive.
“There’s definitely consolidation going on all over the country,” he said. “If you want to grow and stay relevant, you need to be able to expand. Having a strong consolidated balance sheet will enable us to maintain certain competitive opportunities in the market, such as acquiring land and managing supply chains.”
The partnership successfully enabled Wright Homes to ease growth restrictions imposed after the financial crisis.
“Until now our growth has been through savings and general borrowing,” Wright said. “Combining their balance sheet with ours will allow us to accelerate growth.”
That combination—local world expertise paired with patient international capital—has been a common theme in US real estate mergers and acquisitions.
Chris Jasinski, CEO of JTW Advisors, which advised Wright Homes on the transaction, sees the trend growing.
“Hajime continues the trend of Japanese companies acquiring American homebuilders,” Jasinski said. “Based on our ongoing discussions with global investors, we expect more Japanese real estate developers to enter the US market within the next one to two years.”
An expanding Japanese presence
To industry watchers, Wright-Hajime’s work clearly follows a pattern that has been developing for years.
Three Japanese-based companies – Daiwa House, Sekisui House, and Sumitomo Forestry – have already become major players in the US real estate market through acquisitions and partnerships with American builders. Their growth has made them one of the largest construction companies in the country.
But they are not alone anymore.
In July 2024, Tokyo-based Misawa Homes acquired a 51% stake in Visionary Homes, another Utah-based builder. This transaction follows Misawa’s previous US investment in Texas-based Impression Homes.
At that time, Builder’s Day note that deals like the Misawa-Visionary may seem modest at first but have far-reaching implications.
Japanese real estate companies are increasingly expanding internationally as domestic trends negatively impact domestic demand. Housing construction in Japan has fallen sharply over the past two decades, prompting builders to look for growth opportunities in markets with high population growth.
The United States – characterized by a persistent housing shortage, a growing population, and an open real estate market – has become a major indicator.
“Japanese homebuilders are entering the US as Japan’s shrinking population slows domestic sales,” the Nikkei reported in 2024.
Patient fee appeal
Another thing that unites Japanese investors and American builders is their timing.
Many US homebuilders are operating under quarterly performance expectations that influence their strategic decisions. Private equity investors looking for growth capital often prefer partners with long investment horizons.
Jasinski noted that entrepreneurs often weigh those differences carefully when choosing partners.
“Foreign buyers, especially Japanese traditionally, tend to have a long-term view,” he said. “Having a partner with a long-term vision and the ability to make strategic decisions that influence the company’s longevity and financial strength are very attractive qualities.”
That idea struck a chord with Wright.
“Everything they said checked all the boxes for us,” he said of Hajime.
Technology and knowledge exchange
Beyond the financials, Wright also sees potential operational benefits from the partnership.
Japanese real estate companies are well known for their manufacturing precision, quality manufacturing processes, and advanced construction technology. Wright said his team is eager to test those skills.
“Hajime built about 9,000 units last year,” he said. “We are eager to learn about the success they have achieved.”
Interactions can also work the other way around.
During the initial discussions, Wright said the two companies began exchanging ideas and operational details.
“They indicated that they have taken one of those answers,” he said. “We look forward to continuing this partnership.”
A small deal with a wide meaning
Measured by revenue alone, Wright Homes is not a major builder. The company reported approximately $71 million in annual revenue and operates primarily in Utah’s key real estate markets.
However, like the Misawa-Visionary before it, the significance of the agreement goes beyond the current scale.
Each new partnership expands the network of Japanese real estate companies operating in the American market. And each reinforces the same underlying trend: the US housing sector continues to attract international capital looking for long-term growth.
As Wright Homes enters its next chapter, the company’s leadership views the relationship not as a departure but as a foundation for growth.
“This opportunity gives us the opportunity to relax some of the constraints we have set for ourselves and grow faster than we could,” said Wright.
For Hajime Construction, on the other hand, the deal marks the first step in establishing a US presence that could grow significantly over time.
The company called Wright Homes the “core” of its future American real estate business.
If recent history is any guide, that context may not stay small for long.
