The individually designed units in New Zealand's first large retirement village were pretty comfortable.

The sunny units at Parkwood, about an hour from Wellington, ranged from 70 to 110 sq m, then about the average size for a new house, with a decent-sized master bedroom and guest room. It was the early 1970s so nobody expected ensuites or wifi for their iPads. That was then.

When the newest units were built about fifteen years ago the standard floor was 142 sq m with some units reaching 160 sq m. Older units were being puffed up with ensuites and open showers and walls were being knocked out for open plan living areas.

"There is the odd bath floating around because that is what people want but they'll be whipped out as soon as the next person comes," says manager Mark Rouse.

He mentions the new shared swimming pool, the gym, and the popular yoga classes. "At some point in the future I would expect wifi in our social centre."

If Parkwood, a charity, feels the need to upgrade, the pressure is greater on stock-market-listed retirement villages such as Summerset, Ryman and Metlifecare. New developments have barely paused for breath during years of widespread slump for ordinary residential construction.

"Ryman is the fourth biggest residential builder in the country," says John Collyns of the Retirement Villages Association. "We are signing up new villages every two or three weeks."

Statistics NZ began tracking new retirement units in 2009 after it noticed an upwards surge. Since then developers have built almost 2,000 new units worth a combined $263 million. Half of them were built in the last year, says Collyns. Forget students. In some months, every new apartment built in New Zealand was for retirees.

"The whole social area of a village is undergoing quite a substantial re-think," says Collyns.

"Restaurants and cafes are now very common, and libraries and computer rooms and decent cinemas are quite standard in the new villages."

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Retirement villages go cool