Wealthy retirees look to live closer to home Kathleen Buchanan at the display suite for the apartment in Kew, Melbourne, she has purchased for her retirement. GONE are the days when cashed-up retirees migrated to the sun and the sand of Queensland's Gold Coast. Just ask a frustrated Larry Malan, boss of Ray White's Broadbeach office on the Gold Coast. "I wish more of them were spending their money here," Malan says. We're simply not selling to retirees. Malan says people increasingly see the Gold Coast as another busy, over-populated city, and he assumes that wealthy retirees are moving further north to the serenity of the Sunshine Coast or Noosa. But Michael Rossiter, owner of seven LJ Hooker franchises in Queensland, says the change in trend is different. Rich retirees no longer move from the city to the sand, but move from the suburbs to the city. "It seems the beach - the old sea-change (movement) - has slowed down quite considerably and people want to move within a more convenient range (to where they used to live) so they can do more tripping for their holidays," Rossiter says. We're selling inner (Brisbane) city; close proximity to infrastructure and good lifestyle is paramount. The trend is not limited to Queensland. In Sydney, McGrath agent Tracey Dixon says most of her wealthy retiree clients are cashing in their big houses in the suburbs for luxury apartments closer to the city. Popular areas include Milsons Point, Lavender Bay, The Rocks, Walsh Bay and Piermont. They're looking for a little more at the doorstop - places where they can walk to restaurants and cafes and where transport is easy. Wealthy retirees look for well-appointed properties where there's no maintenance. They're liking that sort of concierge lifestyle. People like to go travelling and they want something simple where they can just lock up and go. Perth's Colliers International director of residential sales and marketing, Jo-Anne Chin, agrees that these trends apply to Western Australia. Chin says wealthy retirees want to live in the same city as their families, but have access to a better, more exciting lifestyle. So they downsize from the suburbs to a luxury apartment in the city, Chin says. "I think they want to feel young and vibrant - that's my experience," she says. That's why they like to be near places like Subiaco and East Perth which gives those nice restaurants and easy access to transport. Victorian boomers are looking for neither beaches nor skyscrapers, but community, according to Andrew Leoncelli, managing director of CBRE residential projects in Melbourne. They're not moving to the city because 75 per cent of all people that live in the city are aged between 18 and 32. It's a young person's game," Leoncelli says. He says more wealthy Melbournian retirees are staying in their local communities and downsizing from a large family home to a single-level apartment. What they're looking for is to maintain contact with their friends, family and community - what they know - but they're sick of the maintenance. Take drama teacher Kathleen Buchanan, 61, who has not yet retired but recently bought her future retirement dwelling at Kew in Melbourne's east. " (The apartment) is in my neighbourhood and all the facilities - my doctor, dentist, hairdresser, everyone - lives in that radius," Buchanan says. Over the years you build relationships with these people and I love that sense of belonging.