More than 12 per cent of Hawke's Bay people over 75 are choosing to live in retirement villages, says Retirement Villages Association executive director John Collyns.
Visiting the region to talk with association members, he said Hawke's Bay's 75-plus population grew by nearly 500 between 2015 and 2016, with 12.4 per cent choosing to live in a retirement village in 2016.
The New Zealand rate is also 12.4 per cent.
He said a retirement village was one way of beating the problem of finding a modern home when people wished to downsize.
"Housing stock nationally has continued to rise in size to an average of over 200sq m while the average household size has fallen from 3.5 people to 2.5," he said.