Choosing a location to retire is probably the first decision you need to make when considering downsizing and considering your retirement village purchase.
Easily the main demographic of purchasers buying into a retirement village are from the surrounding suburbs. This makes sense, as people have established networks of friends and family in the area, as well as trusted medical professionals.
The second group of purchasers are those moving into the area to be nearer to family, usually the children, who have moved away from the family home and started life in a new location. For this cohort, the attraction is access to the grandchildren and assistance from family as needs increase.
The final group would be those moving into the area for lifestyle reasons, such as moving to a warmer climate. Lifestyle locations near the coast or attractive rural areas are popular for retirees looking for a sea or tree change. Often, this downsizing decision is also influenced by a capital arbitrage, where the family home is sold in a high value metro market such as Sydney or Melbourne, and a cheaper home is purchased in a regional area such as the Sunshine Coast. The capital difference is used to top-up superannuation accounts or purchase lifestyle accoutrements such as caravans.
Special interest retirement villages
The growth of the retirement village sector has led to the development of special interest villages, designed to meet the living desires of particular groups of people. For example, there are now villages developed on or near golf courses, aimed at keen retired golfers. Keyton has a village located on the side of a horse racing track in Brisbane. Clearly focused on horse racing enthusiasts, they are no doubt hoping the close proximity to the race track distracts potential residents from the noise and pollution drifting over from the nearby motorways.
Cultural and religious retirement villages
Villages operated by religious groups have always been an attractive option for parishioners, or those with similar beliefs. Many of the established churches have retirement villages, including:
Note that some religious groups operate separately in different states and under different names. For example, there are Anglican villages in New South Wales that operate separately to Anglican villages in Queensland. As for the Catholics, there are so many different flavours of Catholic-operated villages that you would need an entire website dedicated to listing them all!
Many of the religious retirement villages are closely intertwined with a local parish and offer pastoral or chaplaincy services to residents.
Cultural villages also exist to meet the needs of ageing immigrant communities, although these are not very common. Examples include:
Suggested next read: The Downsizing decision