PwC and the Property Council of Australia have released the 2017 Retirement Census, their annual stocktake of retirement living providers, residents and villages.

The latest Retirement Census shows more older Australians are choosing to live in a retirement village, and providers are offering increasing health and lifestyle services to better meet the needs and expectations of residents.

Operators of more than 56,000 retirement living units participated in the census. 

The report says that Independent Living Units on average remain affordable compared to the median price of houses in the same postcode. “This is especially prevalent in Sydney and Melbourne, both of which continued to experience significant capital growth in the residential market,” the report said. 

“This is good news for seniors, most of whom downsize from their own homes.”

Seniors’ lifestyle and care provider, IRT Communities CEO Stig Andersen said the research indicated most residents join a retirement village in their mid-70s. 

Property Council Illawarra deputy chair Jennifer Macquarie said there are a lot of Sydney people coming to the Illawarra region to retire.

“We need to be able to provide retirement choice, housing choice for all those people,” she said. 

“What I also found interesting is that people are choosing to go into retirement villages later than they used to. It’s now their seventies and eighties. And it’s really when they want some added care facilities in there, added support.

“People like to age at home in their early retirement years, because they don’t really want to be out of the community.”

Mrs Macquarie said the Illawarra likely needed to grow its retirement options.

“Now there’s quite a diverse range of retirement options being offered and I think that’s in response to the market... (People) being quite selective and particular about what they’re looking for. 

“We’re kind of considered now as part of the Sydney market in that operators and developers from Sydney are now looking at our area as part of their territory.

“There are more providers and people looking to get into that market down here. Which I think is necessary, because not only is our local population ageing, we’re also taking on a lot of Sydney retirees. 

“That part of our population is increasing in size, and we need to respond to that by offering more options, and more updated options.

“We’re certainly on the radar for anyone wanting to retire from Sydney… I think the first step is they come down as an initial downsize, and once they’re here the next step is to look for a retirement facility when they get a little older.”

Mrs Macquarie said there were many larger homes with only one or two people in them after other family members moved out, leading to an under-occupancy problem. 

She said the government needed to look at implementing incentives to encourage people in this position to move into the next phase of their housing, thus freeing up the larger homes for families. 

She suggested one potential measure was to reduce or remove the stamp duty for people to make the transition from family home into the retirement home. 

“Any transaction costs are a barrier to that process,” she said.

READ MORE: Property Council boss visits the Illawarra