From Square Footage to Serenity: Wellness Emerges as Homebuyers' Ultimate Priority

As India progresses towards becoming the third largest economy in the world by 2030, citizens are increasingly focusing on living a healthier (and hence a happier) life with wellness and wellbeing as their non-negotiable priorities. According to international property consultant Jones Lang LaSelle (JLL), when shifting to a new home, buyers today not only consider social infrastructure outside the project, but are also very keen to understand the range of amenities offered in the project. These facilities include gyms, swimming pools, yoga centres, cycling and running tracks, spa-salons, open landscaped areas, and creches to name a few. And this behavioural shift is pushing developers to offer wellness-&-wellbeing-focused amenities in their projects.

This also comes in the backdrop of a premiumisation wave covering a myriad of sectors including fashion, electronics, and most importantly real estate. The perception of premium residential units has undergone a sea change over the last decade with an increasing number of consumers focusing on wide spaces, amenities which cater to their wellness and offers peaceful living while being easily accessible. Identifying this need of lakhs of homebuyers, developers today are scouting for land parcels closer to green spaces or ecological parks to construct projects and bring a differentiated offering.

In key metros such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata Chennai, homebuyers have been more inclined towards healthy living post the COVID-19 pandemic. Premised on the incorporation of nature into the environment, along with the traditional set of amenities, today wellness-oriented projects focus on concepts of biophilia, offering landscaped interventions, lush green gardens, and also treating their waste and water to be sustainable among many other initiatives. A combination of these factors helps maintain the flora and fauna in and around the region and enhance the overall quality of life.

This assumes significance as 24% of respondents in a survey of 10,000 citizens revealed they are struggling with stress due to the current workplace environment, according to a GOQii India Fit Report 2022-2023. This further necessitates the need for residential projects which cater to the peacefulness and wellbeing of its residents and holds true for both primary and secondary residential purchases. The demand for wellness-focussed-homes is increasingly growing in India as homebuyers are looking to invest in properties which can help them rejuvenate, stay close to nature and also act as a profitable investment tool that can offer high returns. Statista Research says the wellness real estate market in India was estimated at nearly $200 Billion in 2022 as against over $134 Billion in 2017, indicating the massive growth potential waiting to be unlocked in this industry.

Interestingly, a closer look at the homebuyers’ profile would reveal millennials are driving the demand for wellness-focused projects. A survey by Statista in 2022 revealed that 56% of millennials preferred investing in a home over other investments and a majority of them are looking for incorporation of natural elements in one way or the other. Therefore, developers looking to cater to this cohort of homebuyers should strive to maintain a fine balance between fulfilling their evolving requirements while maintaining the wellness quotient. This requires a deep understanding of the nuanced requirements of millennials and the ability to seamlessly integrate natural elements and bringing cost efficiencies will help attract homebuyers.

Piramal Revanta, in Mulund, is one such project that promises unparalleled quality of air sitting on the edge of ~25,000 acres of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, offering views of the sprawling forest. Living closer to nature has been proven to have a calming effect both on mental as well as physical wellbeing, and one surely can’t be closer to Mumbai biggest green cover than from a balcony of your Piramal Revanta home!

The project with 50% open spaces is being touted as one of the only world-class residential projects in Mulund with over 35 state-of-the-art amenities including jogging tracks, free-play lawn for cricket, football, a yoga garden, dog park along with a clubhouse with array of amenities. This combination of large green spaces, high-end amenities in a luxury residential apartment next to a large ecological park is becoming homebuyers’ favourite!