Summerset Group, the retirement village operator and developer, expects the opening of a new village in the Auckland suburb of Ellerslie later this year will keep sales humming after posting a record quarter in the three months through June.
The Wellington-based company lifted occupation rights sales 28 per cent to 185 in the three months ended June 30, its biggest quarter since the company was founded. Of those, new sales were up 32 per cent to 77 from the same quarter a year earlier, and resales rose 22 per cent to 77.
"Our combined new sales and resales for Q-two were the most we have ever achieved in a quarter, which has contributed to a record number of first-half total sales," said chief executive Julian Cook.
"The past six months has seen good growth for Summerset and we expect this to continue strongly as the first stage of our Ellerslie village opens in September."
Like other retirement village developers, Summerset has been on a drive to expand its national footprint to cash in on the ageing "baby boomer" generation. Government data show 771 building permits were issued for new retirement units in the first five months of 2016, up from 594 over the same period a year earlier and 603 in 2014.
