American style rental villages – follow up on last week and serviced apartments

We have been queried by a village about last week’s item on American operator Harvest Developments establishing Australian villages in the Gold Coast and Sydney with rentals of a flat $810 per week for a full service (meals, cleaning etc but no entry or exit fees). How does this compare to serviced apartments?
Let’s say a person stays in a serviced apartment for 5 years. One Queensland example for a Single on leasehold is $100,000 buy-in (with no refund after one year) and $250 per week for all services except phone and power. Therefore the cost over 5 years is $165,000 all up. The Harvest Development cost is $210,600 but the resident did not need the $100,000 to gain entry or alternatively had use of the $100,000 for 5 years to invest or enjoy. The difference is $10,000 a year in cost.
In Sydney serviced apartments are not widely available. Aveum offers a range with an average model being about $225,000 with a 3.5% DMF and $300 per week fee. Over 5 years the total cost is $117,375, between $40 and $90,000 less than the Queensland counterpart and Harvest’s. The level of facilities of course will have to be taken into account.