CBRE has appointed Andrew Purdon to a newly created Pacific role as Regional Director – Living Sectors, Capital Markets, to drive the firm’s service offering in the fast-growing build-to-rent (BTR), purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) and co-living sectors.

Mr Purdon has worked in senior roles in CBRE’s UK Development and Residential Capital Markets team for over 10 years and was most recently the UK Head of Co-Living Transactions.

In his new Pacific role, Mr Purdon will be based in the Sydney office and will build a dedicated Pacific Capital Markets team to provide development and investment advice to landowners, developers, and investors at all stages of the project lifecycle.

This builds on CBRE’s well-established platform and Living Sectors’ expertise across a broad range of business lines, including Debt & Structured Finance, Valuation & Advisory Services, Research and Structured Transaction & Advisory Services.

Mark Coster, CBRE’s Pacific Head of Capital Markets, said, “Andrew’s skills and experience will provide our Australian and New Zealand businesses with a real point of differentiation as we grow our platform to support our clients targeting alternative investment opportunities. BTR will be a particular focus area, with this emerging sector gathering momentum in Australian and New Zealand as ownership affordability pressures grow and many rental markets lean towards a residential undersupply.”

Mr Purdon noted that Living Sectors had been a major growth area for CBRE’s UK business over the past 10 years.

The underlying drivers of the rental markets in Australia and New Zealand were very similar, with population growth, lifestyle preferences of the under 40’s and affordability constraints of home ownership creating a deeper pool of renters every year and a clear investment rationale for developing purpose designed and professionally managed rental accommodation to meet demand.

“I’ve been tracking the Pacific BTR market for several years and have been struck by the similarities with the early stages of growth for this sector in the UK. The key renting cohort of 20 to 39-year-olds is forecast to increase in Australia by approximately 1.4 million to total 8.7 million by 2040 and this demographic will largely aspire to live within the largest cities, close to jobs, and experience a connected, urban lifestyle,” Mr Purdon said.

Record low vacancy rates and rental product which lacked consistency and offered minimal services would drive the rise in the Pacific BTR market, upgrading the overall lifestyle experience for renters while delivering rental and capital growth to investors.

“Institutional investment in the residential sector has grown substantially across Europe and the US and represented approximately 30% and 44% of total investment volumes respectively in 2021,” Mr Purdon said.

“The growth potential in Australia and New Zealand is huge which is why the opportunity to relocate from the UK and lead CBRE’s Living Sectors – Capital Markets business in Pacific is so exciting.”