Summerset breaks sales records despite tough market

Tuesday, 8 July 2025

Summerset Group says it had its highest ever quarter of sales in the three months to June.

Retirement village giant Summerset Group has defied the subdued economic environment to turn in its highest ever quarter of sales in the three months to the end of June.

In an announcement to the NZX this morning, the company reported it had sold 402 occupancy rights agreements (ORA) for units in its villages in the second quarter.

That compared with 290 sales in the first quarter of the year and 333 sales in the second quarter of last year.

The result was made up of 222 new sales and 180 sales, with sales of both up significantly on a quarterly and annual basis.

Summerset chief executive Scott Scoullar said it was the company’s highest quarter of sales ever, and came despite a sales environment that “is not easy for us”.

Summerset’s Scott Scoullar is happy with the company’s progress this year.

The company also turned in its highest ever first half total sales with 692, up 18% on the same period last year, he said.

“We’ve seen continued high demand for our retirement living offering. The momentum we saw in the first quarter continued into the second quarter.

“We have seen uncontracted new sale stock decrease by 6% in the period, while contracted new stock increased by over 50%.”

Summerset’s diverse landbank was an advantage and continued to deliver for the company, with over 46.7% of sales coming from outside Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, he said.

But sales at its flagship St Johns village in Auckland were also progressing well, the company reported.

About 50% of the apartments, and almost 60% of the memory care apartments and care suites at St Johns that were delivered in late 2024 were now either under contract or occupied.

Scoullar said that level of sales was ahead of its internal budgeting which noted the size of the new $350 million village.

Summerset St Johns in Auckland will have capacity for up to 450 residents when stage two is completed.

The company was also on track to deliver its 2025 financial year forecast of 650 to 730 homes, he said.

They would include the delivery of village centre buildings at Cambridge in the Waikato, and Cranbourne North in Melbourne, Australia, and the first villas at its Chirnside Park village also in Melbourne.

Summerset was happy with its progress so far this year and would continue to work hard to bring new residents to its villages over the second half of the year, he added.

It has been a tough few years for the retirement village sector. Challenging economic conditions, rising costs, labour shortages and the downturn in the housing market have hit village operators hard.

Summerset has fared better than some other operators, and in February reported a record year of sales over the year to December 31 - although it still had a steep fall in its after-tax profit.

But financial analysts said Summerset was well placed to perform strongly when the housing market picked up again.

Now, stocks for listed retirement companies are at least stemming the decline, if not gaining on the NZX, and sentiment about them seems bullish.

Nikko Asset Management investment analyst Tim O’Loan has said the sector is well placed going forward, especially with lower, more stable interest rates at play, the housing market expected to improve, and an ageing population.

Summerset is one of the country’s biggest retirement village operators and developers, with 40 villages completed or in development in New Zealand and three in development in Australia.