Ingenia Lifestyle’s $100 million Latitude One community in Anna Bay near Port Stephens in NSW may have just opened its doors, but 90 homes have already been snapped up and 10 homes occupied – with a security guard on the gate to stop potential customers entering the building site.

Unlike the retirement village model, with a land lease property you own the house but lease the land it sits on. There’s no stamp duty or exit fees and residents keep 100 per cent of capital gains made on the property.

With four out of 10 Australians aged 60 and over having less than $600,000 in the bank, we predict there will only see more demand for these communities as the Baby Boomers downsize.

The homes are also very different from the traditional idea of a ‘mobile home’ with big kitchens and dining tables, high ceilings and open plan alfresco living, not to mention the $6.5 million clubhouse, wellness centre, cinema, library, sports bar and bowling green not unlike a retirement village.

The first community in its new ‘Star Collection’, the homes are priced from close to $400,000 for two bedrooms up to nearly $600,000 for three bedrooms – and CEO Simon Owen predicts all 270 will be sold within 18 months.

Similar to many retirement villages many land lease developers are offering a continuum of care for residents such as Palm Lake Resort that has built four aged care facilities in the past few years alongside its communities – with five more planned. Ingenia is also planning to announce its first aged care facility and coordinates aged care and home care services at its communities.

There is a common argument that unlike retirement villages, land lease homes don’t increase in value but that is now being challenged, with research showing home that are 10 to 15 years old that would have cost $150-$175,000 are now selling for over $300,000.