Why this booming real estate sector is feeling good

The booming health and wellbeing sector has been slow to reach our homes but that appears to be changing – and fast!

Why this booming real estate sector is feeling good
The booming health and wellbeing sector has been slow to reach our homes but that appears to be changing – and fast!

The wellness real estate and communities market is showing increased demand globally and there are a potential 1.3 million buyers in the US alone according to the Global Wellness Institute.

The full report isn’t published until January 2018 but we’ve been given a snapshot of this burgeoning market.

“The home is the last frontier in wellness, and this is the most important research we’ve undertaken, not just because it’s a hot new industry market - but because it’s about where and how we live,” said GWI Sr. Researcher, Katherine Johnston.

Based on global consumer spending on housing of around 20% ($8 trillion per year according to EuroMonitor), the GWI report expects growth in the wellness real estate sector of 9% annually through 2020. That’s around $153 billion.

In the US, GWI expects demand to greatly exceed supply. American Lives’ recent survey of American households with incomes over $75K revealed that 25% are already “very interested” in living in a wellness community.

Prices are already starting to jump, from their positioning as ‘affordable’ or ‘market value’ to 10-25% premiums.

The report also calls for clarity for the wellness real estate market to avoid consumer confusion from those developments that offer just a few benefits.

The homes in this sector should be built with materials that improve air, water, sound and lighting. But there should also be exercise facilities and communities should be designed to encourage healthy activities such as walking rather than driving.

“We’re at the beginning of a new movement in home and community design that tackles our uniquely modern problems: sedentary lives, unhealthy diets, stress, social isolation and loneliness, pollution, nature-deprivation, etc. – and it’s creating powerful opportunities,” noted Johnston.