Invisible wellness is the latest must-have for homebuyers

Everyone has a must-have checklist for a new home: spacious backyard, laundry room, a mortgage that won't crush your soul.

But for those with money to burn, the latest must-have in luxury real estate is "invisible wellness" — discreet health and wellness features baked into the home, per Sotheby's International Realty.

• In 2025, 60% of homeowners said features that improve health and wellness were their primary purchase motivator, up 17 points from 2022.
• The global wellness real estate market hit $876B in 2025 and is forecast to reach $1.8T by 2030.
• The market grew by 23% from 2024 to 2025.
• The US accounted for ~29% of home wellness spending in 2025.

We're not just talking about a dusty Peloton-turned-clothing-rack or that neck massager you bought during the pandemic, either.

While home gyms are still desirable, people increasingly look for properties that offer invisible wellness — House Beautiful's biggest design trend of 2026 — amenities that are directly integrated into the design from the outset:

• Whole-house air and water filtration systems
• Direct access to nature and biophilic design — architectural features inspired by nature that improve health and well-being
• Dedicated quiet zones and sensory rooms
• Integrated health-monitoring tech
• Spa-like amenities
• Features to help age in place

If you're not yet bucks up enough to design your own invisible wellness fortress of solitude, you can still deck your halls with some emerging wellness tech:

• Sunday Light offers a 34k lumen lighting fixture ($6.9k) that emulates natural daylight to boost cognitive, circadian, and metabolic health.
• Medical tech company Casana raised $46m for a smart toilet seat ($199) that monitors your health, including blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate.
• The Morpheus Lounge chair ($9.5k+) features embedded vibrational plates and light therapy goggles to calm the nervous system.
• Sleep tech company Kimba is raising money for a device that diffuses fragrances designed to support sleep and calm the limbic system.

Forbes notes that more affordable wellness real estate is emerging as well, as developers design communities with wellness design principles, including green spaces, biophilic elements, and social infrastructure.

Meanwhile, I'll be over here trying to fit one of those Costco saunas into my apartment.