This week Third Door Ventures, the group behind Apartments.com.au, completed its acquisition of Villages.com.au, one of Australia’s longest-running retirement living marketplaces. Founded in 2005, Villages.com.au lists more than 5,000 land lease communities, retirement villages and aged care homes nationwide.

It comes days after our sister platform iBuildNew relaunched as BuildNew. Together, the group now covers the three main ways Australians buy new: off-the-plan apartments and townhouses, building a new home and purchasing a new block, and retirement living.

Why retirement living matters to apartment developers

Downsizers are one of the most important buyer groups for new apartments, particularly in boutique and premium projects in established suburbs. They also make one of the most considered decisions in property.

A downsizer rarely looks only at apartments. They weigh a new apartment near family against a retirement village, a land lease community or staying put. Until now, we have only seen the part of that decision that happens on Apartments.com.au. Villages.com.au shows us the rest: what these buyers are looking at, what they care about and where they end up.

That matters for developers designing product for this market. Single-level living, lift access, storage, parking, proximity to health services and community all feature heavily in a retirement living search. Understanding how downsizers compare those options helps developers position apartments as a genuine alternative, and helps project marketers speak to these buyers with confidence.

The full picture of buying new

The same is true at the other end of the market. First-home buyers and young families often compare an off-the-plan apartment or townhouse with a house and land package on the city fringe. BuildNew lists every builder and estate in the country, so buyers looking to build new can compare the full market. Apartments.com.au does the same for new apartments and townhouses.

With all three platforms in one group, we can follow buyers as they move between options rather than losing them at the edge of one portal. For our partners, that means better market insight, and campaigns that reach buyers who are actively weighing up new property, whichever form it takes.

How we got here

Trust is the biggest barrier for buyers of new property, and solving it has shaped our group since 2018, when Urban.melbourne and Urban.com.au were brought together. Property Observer joined in 2020 as our group editorial publication, so buyers could research with confidence rather than just browse. In 2025, Urban became Apartments.com.au.

We acquired home builder comparison platform Homeshelf in 2024, and iBuildNew joined the group in 2025. Those two platforms are now BuildNew, helping Australia build new. Villages.com.au is the next step, bringing retirement living into the same group.

Villages.com.au will move onto the Third Door Ventures platform by March 2027, alongside Apartments.com.au and BuildNew.

What this means for you

If you are developing for downsizers, delivering seniors or over-55s product, or marketing a project with a mix of apartments, townhouses and land, talk to our team about reaching those buyers across Apartments.com.au, BuildNew and Villages.com.au.

We will share more on what Villages.com.au brings to our market insights in the new year, including at our upcoming Market Insights Live Events.

To talk about your next project, contact the Apartments.com.au team.