Relocating for Retirement Or what makes for a happy retirement

This paper reports the preliminary results of a study undertaken to consider the decision-making processes of retirees who have recently located to retirement villages within the Adelaide Metropolitan District. The study recognises that the South Australia population is aging faster than any other state in Australia and suggests that the decision making of retirees both pensioned and self funded are of key interest to those in the areas of housing provision, housing investment and welfare provision. There have been a number of studies undertaken in the US (Marans 1983, Golant 1987, Stimson, 1990) where the environment of retirement villages, the health and "fit" of movers and the push and pull factors relating to relocation decisions have been recognised. However little has been documented about the housing decision process of retirees in Australia and there have been few studies into the location choices of households who have relocated to retirement villages. This study complements ARC funded research currently being undertaken in Queensland by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute which has been restricted to the Brisbane region.