Some Wellness Amenities Can Help Sell a House. Others Are a Downright Headache.

Wellness amenities are booming in luxury real estate, so much so that a property lacking a home spa or with a dated gym could set a property back when it comes to finding a buyer.

“When I first got into the business seven years ago, wellness amenities weren’t a necessity, but now I’m starting to notice they’re in people’s top five,” said Michael Fahimian, an agent with the Beverly Hills Estates. “A lot of people are going with the house rather than the location, whereas before it was location and style. People are buying based on amenities.”

The trouble is the kinds of wellness amenities that buyers are searching for are ever-shifting, agents said. A hot item—whether it’s a salt room or hyperbaric chamber—is less likely to spur a sale when the trend dies down. Nevertheless, for homeowners pondering what wellness features could add value or appeal in the future, there are some with more staying power than others, the agents said, and what buyers want now isn’t just focused on physical wellness, but mental wellness as well.

Fahimian said he has a listing in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Holmby Hills with a hair salon, nail salon and even a dental surgical room. These additions from when the house was built in 2013 were once seen as the epitome of wellness amenities at home, but these days, Fahimian said, “when people come and take a look at that section of the house, they laugh.”

Wellness as an industry and a home amenity is aging, said Fredrik Eklund, co-founder of the Eklund|Gomes Team at Douglas Elliman. (Take that home hair salon as an example.) At that, sellers should make sure their home’s amenities are up to date. While a home gym is still an important perk for buyers, those with bulky, dated equipment or a chlorine pool as opposed to the more modern saltwater pool could pose a drawback for potential buyers.
While the reaction to dated wellness amenities could be laughter, some very expensive devices could simply draw shrugs. Fahimian said he’s seeing buyers less interested in hyperbaric chambers or cryotherapy rooms than last year or the year before, but no less interested in other wellness amenities whose popularity continues to grow, such as infrared saunas and cold-plunge pools.

Douglas Elliman agent Julie Jones also has seen wellness features rise up buyers’ priority lists.

“If you don’t have a section for your wellness suite or gym, people are increasingly looking for areas to add those amenities,” she said. Even if the offerings are over-the-top, like last year’s salt room or hyperbaric chamber, because they’re already in place, buyers will often express a willingness to try them out rather than get turned off by them, she said.

Building out wellness spaces with some flexibility in how they can be used is one way to ensure their future appeal.

Megan Williamson, managing partner of the Agency Dallas, recently listed a property with a top-of-the-line home gym, spa and yoga room complex. But when it came time to sell, Williamson noticed the yoga room, in particular, wasn’t getting much of a rise out of potential buyers.

“The yoga room had a door where you could access the back of the yard and they would put their dogs in there when guests would come over. So I kept calling it the puppy condo, and that took a whole different turn,” she said.

Suddenly, the gym complex got its shine back, with potential buyers clamoring to see the puppy condo on walk-throughs. The room includes custom open-top crates for the dogs and a TV that plays Animal Planet on loop, not to mention easy access to the backyard.

The house is now under contract, Williamson said, with three offers coming in over list price and all offers noting the puppy condo as a selling point.

Similarly, Williamson also recently listed a house where the buyers converted a tennis court into a farm-to-table garden and dining space but fully lined the court so that it could easily be converted back.

What buyers want is always evolving, Williamson said, so the fact that the space could easily become a tennis court again was a big bonus.

“I think farm to table was great a year ago. Is it right now?” she said, adding that she made sure to let people know about the space’s versatility because “not everyone is down to grow their own tomatoes.”

“Homeowners will get so pigeonholed into making these properties so unique, it does become hard to sell it,” she said.

These days, it’s all about delivering a holistic version of wellness, including mental wellness, said Eklund.
“It’s less about some of those boxes to be checked, like a golf simulator, and more about true indoor-outdoor living, fresh air, greenery, water, ocean, beach and just space,” Eklund said, citing the Miami condo One Park Tower that’s surrounded by nearly 200 preserved green acres, or New York City’s Central Park, whose perimeter hosts some of the city’s priciest real estate because of its proximity to the prized open space.

Homeowners with plans to sell can make smarter decisions to align with how wellness is trending, Eklund said.

“If you’re going to spend $250,000 or $1 million on home improvement, maybe adding to your garden will increase the value more than that new big fireplace or stone in the bathroom,” he said.

All in all, woo-woo wellness amenities like salt rooms are out but wellness amenities with proven effects will stay relevant for years to come, said Martha Gunderson, an agent with Douglas Elliman.

“This is a growing trend, not a receding one,” she said.