Industry insights

This pricing analysis tracks advertised prices for retirement village homes across New Zealand, based on over 500 new listings updated to March 2025.

The national median sits at $691,000 — a modest 0.1% increase year-on-year, though still below the October 2024 peak of $718,000. The Golden Triangle (Auckland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty) saw the sharpest decline, with prices dropping 13.4% in just seven months.

The latest JLL whitepaper indicates continued growth in the sector, with a steady increase in villages and units, despite a slight slowing in the development pipeline. While the percentage of over-75s living in villages remains steady at 14% nationally, regional variations exist, with the Bay of Plenty leading at 18.4%. Interestingly, Canterbury shows the strongest growth in penetration.

We review and summarise nine main points from the discussion paper, Review of the Retirement Villages Act 2003: Options for Change, published by Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This is the next step in the government’s review of the Retirement Villages Act, and builds on work undertaken by the Retirement Commission.

In this edition of Industry Insights we analyse the recent Australian Federal Budget’s significant allocation to the aged care sector. We speak with Australian aged care expert, Rachel Lane and take a look at where and how the money will be spent.

We surveyed Village Guide’s audience to gather their views on the most important factors when selecting a retirement village. With 400+ submissions, the results are highly insightful. We’ve also included 6 top tips for email marketing.

In this month’s edition of Industry Insights, we look at the broader AI landscape and dive into how retirement village operators can utilise AI chatbots to improve their marketing and sales.

Introducing our new monthly bulletin about the retirement sector. From real estate statistics to marketing trends, there’s plenty to reflect on and learn this month as 2023 picks up pace.