New Zealand’s largest retirement village owner/operator cut losses from $513 million to $171m after revenue rose from $760m to $855m, but dividends remain suspended and the company is continuing to sell properties here and in Australia.
Ryman Healthcare made more in deferred management fees – the amount it keeps when people leave a property, most often by dying – up from $142m to $158m.
It remains committed to selling properties to get more cash and has severely pared back its development programme to only two new villages under construction in the slow property market.
Last year’s property revaluations of $92m turned into devaluations of $104m in the full-year result to March 31, 2026.
The company sold three sites for $67.4m in the 2026 year: Karori, which it once planned to develop, as well as land at Nellie Melba and at Mt Eliza in Victoria.
At Mt Eliza, Ryman ditched $200m plans after a battle with locals and environmentalists but it was the downturn which eventually beat it at that waterfront site.
Ryman is also selling its Christchurch development site opposite the Avon River, on Park Terrace, booking a $4.2m deposit on that in the 2026 accounts. It is yet to settle.
It once planned a $240m project in the city where the company was founded and where it has its head office.
That site is 76 and 78 Park Terrace.
It “continues to operate a divestment programme”, Ryman said today.
The company also plans to sell two other Christchurch properties, having already moved people out of care centres at Woodcote in Hornby and at Margaret Stoddard in Riccarton.
Ryman has 38 properties in New Zealand and nine in Australia.
It owns 9959 units, with licences to occupy written for 15,547 residents.
The average age of entry is 80.2 years and the company employs 7778 staff in Australasia.
Ryman has been fixing its big Remuera village, Edmund Hillary, after ground beneath the main block sank.
People are not paying as much for a licence to occupy a Ryman property as they once were.
Sales declined from 1523 units and serviced apartments in 2025 to 1410 in 2026, accounts showed.
The company has 1253 unoccupied units or stock which are unsold: 870 units have no offer on them and remain on Ryman’s books and 383 units are contracted to sell but have not yet sold.
Ryman is selling licences to occupy for less money, accounts noting an “average pricing down modestly year-on-year, reflecting price adjustments and unit mix”.
The 2025 average sale price for an independent living unit was $908,000 but that fell to $858,000 in 2026.
Ryman has also axed the number of developments it has on, from seven to two at the year’s end, “significantly reducing exposure to construction cost inflation and property market slowdown”.
It is now only building the new Richard Hadlee property at Belfast, north of Christchurch, and the Patrick Hogan project at Cambridge.
However, it does plan to develop one Australian property: the Hubert Opperman project in Mulgrave.
Commentary indicated a lack of confidence and high building costs that have prompted the cautious approach.
Ryman had “significantly reduced development risk and capex profile, with five main buildings completed in the past two years and only three remaining to be completed across FY27–29″, its presentation said today.
Further sales of properties once planned to be developed are due to settle soon.
Plans for a new $155m village in Melbourne’s Kealba have been ditched. That property is to be sold for A$30.9m ($37.76m), with settlement expected in 2028.
Another site at Coburg North in Melbourne’s northwest had been identified for sale, following a further feasibility review, Ryman said.
The future of its lakefront Takapuna site in Auckland remains uncertain. Extensive ground works were undertaken there until Ryman decided to halt work and fence off the huge foundations with no village rising.
Ryman has that property on its books, valued at $134m.
Five greenfield land-bank sites have been “retained for potential future development in catchments with enduring demand and house prices aligned with Ryman’s target market: Essendon, Ringwood East, Karaka, Takapuna and Taupō”, the company said today.
It will sell properties where it can.
The company identified a $250m sales target and had contracted $147m of deals to date.
Ryman indicated it would not develop new sites until the housing market improves.
It referred to “waiting for stronger market signals before committing capital”.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
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