A Booming Market for Health-Focused Living
Wellness real estate is rapidly moving from niche to mainstream. According to the Global Wellness Institute’s newly released Build Well to Live Well: The Future report (June 2025), the global wellness real estate market has ballooned to $438 billion. The United States leads the sector with $180.6 billion, making it the top national market.
GWI notes that the industry expanded at an average annual growth rate of 19.5% between 2019 and 2024—outpacing the broader construction sector, which grew at just 5.5%. Looking ahead, the Institute forecasts that the market will grow another 15.2% annually, reaching a projected $1.11 trillion by 2029.
This rapid expansion signals a shift: wellness homes are no longer bespoke “passion projects,” but a serious focus for professional developers, many of whom are applying a “wellness lens” across entire portfolios. For buyers, it means greater access to homes and communities designed with well-being at the core.
More Than Just Healthy Design
Today’s wellness real estate spans a wide variety of formats and price points, with offerings that cater to everyone from first-time buyers to retirees. This reflects a deeper transformation in how homes are conceived—not just as shelters, but as proactive health tools.
The report highlights benefits for residents that go far beyond architecture: increased physical activity, improved sleep, lower chronic disease rates, fewer hospital visits, reduced asthma symptoms, less absenteeism at work, and even stronger community bonds.
Six Dimensions of Wellness-Centered Living
GWI identifies six dimensions that shape the outcomes of wellness real estate:
Physical: Homes are designed to promote activity and healthy eating, mitigate environmental risks, and ensure accessibility and safety. This includes toxin-free building materials, air quality controls, and resilience against natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires.
Mental and Spiritual: Spaces prioritize rest, serenity, and nature integration. Features include quiet zones, spiritual design elements, and layouts that support work-life balance and reduce daily stressors.
Social: Shared amenities such as rooftop gardens, communal kitchens, and gyms encourage interaction. Diverse housing options promote inclusion and multigenerational living. Connectivity infrastructure ensures digital inclusion and access.
Civic and Community: Development incorporates local heritage and culture, revitalizes neighborhoods, promotes diversity, and provides essential public services, embedding the neighborhood in its broader social fabric.
Financial and Economic: Wellness projects aim to offer affordable housing, access to quality education and jobs, and economic empowerment for local entrepreneurs through supply-chain integration.
Environmental: Sustainability is central—projects are designed with energy efficiency, water conservation, and biodiversity in mind.
Together, these pillars represent a comprehensive rethinking of how the built environment influences health and prosperity.
From Theory to Practice: Six Foundational Principles
To guide the industry’s future, GWI outlines six key principles for wellness-oriented real estate:
- Inclusion Across All Project Types: Wellness can be integrated into developments of any scale, budget, or scope.
- Early and Holistic Planning: Health-focused strategies should be embedded from the earliest stages of design and construction.
- Spaces That Heal, Not Harm: Homes should not merely avoid harm—they should actively support better health and well-being.
- Encouraging Proactive Wellness: Built environments can foster behaviors that promote long-term wellness, from healthy eating to daily movement.
- Infrastructure and Programming Matter: Wellness isn’t an amenity—it’s part of the structure and the community experience. Activities like yoga classes, gardening, and farmers’ markets help bring it to life.
- Connection Is Foundational: Strong communities are essential to well-being. Wellness real estate must foster belonging, social bonds, and community engagement.
"Apart from catering to individual wellness needs, wellness real estate recognizes that connections and community are central to our well-being." — Global Wellness Institute, June 2025 Report
In an era where urban sprawl, digital isolation, and climate uncertainty dominate planning conversations, the wellness real estate movement offers a timely and holistic alternative. From city blocks to suburban cul-de-sacs, the future of healthy living may be built from the ground up.
Source: Forbes, June 24, 2025.
