Resale Velocity by Operator
"Resale velocity" is the average number of days a retirement village unit takes to resell after a resident vacates. Faster resale means the operator has stronger demand, and an estate can wind up sooner — every extra week typically costs the estate ~$300-700 in weekly fees with no offsetting income from the unit.
Operator ranking by median resale days
Operators with at least 2 villages reporting resale velocity. Lower is better.
| Operator | Villages | Median resale days | Fastest | Slowest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lifestyle Communities | 3 | 16 | 8 | 279 |
| Freemasons New Zealand | 2 | 90 | 81 | 90 |
| Independent Operator | 13 | 116 | 18 | 280 |
| Ryman Healthcare | 29 | 118 | 2 | 171 |
| Generus | 5 | 141 | 50 | 257 |
| Radius Residential Care | 2 | 145 | 88 | 145 |
| Village Communities | 9 | 153 | 47 | 350 |
| Arvida | 26 | 169 | 42 | 398 |
| Summerset Group Holdings | 24 | 169 | 14 | 725 |
| Lifestyle Villages | 2 | 173 | 170 | 173 |
| Bupa | 7 | 205 | 104 | 335 |
| Hopper Living | 3 | 205 | 165 | 241 |
| Oceania Healthcare | 15 | 235 | 79.5 | 642.95 |
| Metlifecare | 11 | 260 | 99 | 440 |
| Enliven | 6 | 285 | 150 | 870 |
| Garden Villages | 2 | 457 | 385 | 457 |
15 fastest-reselling villages
- 1PeakviewsParkvale, Hawke's Bay · Peakviews (Independent)0 days
- 2Ryman Healthcare Kevin Hickman VillageRiccarton Park, Canterbury · Ryman Healthcare2 days
- 3Matamata Country ClubMatamata, Waikato · Matamata Country Club Management6 days
- 4Papamoa Sands - A Freedom Lifestyle VillagePāpāmoa, Bay of Plenty · Lifestyle Communities8 days
- 5Summerset BlenheimSpringlands, Marlborough · Summerset Group Holdings14 days
- 6The Palms Lifestyle VillageTikipunga, Northland · Lifestyle Communities16 days
- 7Ryman Healthcare Patrick Hogan VillageCambridge, Waikato · Ryman Healthcare17 days
- 8Brooklands Retirement Village & Rest HomeMosgiel, Otago · Independent Operator18 days
- 9Ascot Park Retirement VillageTaradale, Hawke's Bay · Independent Operator21 days
- 10Golden Pond LifecareWhakatāne, Bay of Plenty · Golden Pond Lifecare Management22 days
- 11Bethsaida Retirement VillageRedwoodtown, Marlborough · Independent Operator28 days
- 12Summerset Te AwaOnehunga, Auckland · Summerset Group Holdings30 days
- 13Arvida Mt Eden GardensMount Eden, Auckland · Arvida42 days
- 14Rangiura Retirement Village and Care HomePutaruru, Waikato · Independent Operator44 days
- 15Observatory Village CareOamaru, Otago · Village Communities47 days
Why resale velocity matters
Most NZ retirement-village Occupation Right Agreements (ORAs) require the resident's estate to keep paying the weekly fee — sometimes called "outgoings" — until the unit is resold. Until that happens, the estate is locked up: the operator holds 90-100% of the original purchase price ("the occupation advance"), the weekly fee keeps draining the estate, and beneficiaries can't be paid out.
A village with a 60-day median resale is materially better for the estate than one with a 180-day median. Across an estate's worst case, that's ~$15,000-30,000 in weekly fees with no offsetting income from the unit.
Caveats
Resale velocity in Disclosure Statements is typically reported as the average across the last 7-12 resales — so a single slow sale skews the average. Some villages don't disclose velocity at all (it's not strictly required), so the cohort here is the 177 villages that voluntarily disclosed. Compare with the operator's average across multiple villages where possible.
Source
Filed Disclosure Statements, Companies Office Statutory Returns Portal (srp.companiesoffice.govt.nz).