FKP, parent company of Aveo retirement group, has issued a $187.9M write down on the value of its commercial and residential development holdings.

Analyst Tony Sherlock for Morningstar said he had expected a write down but was surprised by its severity.

“They've written their residential and commercial property assets to what looks like panic-level prices,” he said. “But they've also left the value of the retirement assets unchanged, which is peculiar.”

In a statement, FKP has moved to sell its housing estates in Melbourne, Philip Island in Victoria and also in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.

CEO Geoff Grady (pictured) described the write downs as “necessary”.

"With the gradual recovery of the retirement sector, we are confident about the outlook for our business and are well progressed on delivering our strategy of becoming Australia's leading pure-play retirement group," he said.

The value of FKP's $1 billion retirement business remained unchanged.