Fredrik Eklund, John Gomes Break Down What Luxury Homebuyers Want

• Real-estate agents Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes said luxury homebuyers want wellness perks at home.
• More than gyms and swimming pools, they’re seeking out extras like infrared saunas and plunge pools.
• On-demand perks like “spiritual concierges” and IV treatments are becoming more popular.

The sought-after self-care perks and extras that come with a house or condo were once limited to swimming pools and gyms. 

But today’s wellness-focused add-ons need to be comprehensive and on-demand, said Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes, the luxury real-estate brokers who run the top-producing team at New York-based brokerage Douglas Elliman, where they’ve sold $4 billion in real estate so far in 2022.

Eklund, who took a star-making turn playing an over-top-version of himself on Bravo TV’s “Million Dollar Listing” reality show, and Gomes, who often appeared on the show, have had a big year. 

On top of selling a $70.5 million condo in New York, a $17 million mansion in the Hampton’s enclave of Sag Harbor, and a $17.5 million condo in Beverly Hills — to name a few — the duo just resigned to stay on with Douglas Elliman for five more years.

Speaking about the year ahead alongside Eklund Gomes Team CEO Julia Spillman, they said wellness perks remain at the top of the list of must-haves for luxury homebuyers of both condos and single-family residences. 

And while the more traditional self-care extras like pools, hot tubs, and home gyms are still desirable, perks like spiritual concierges and IV drips that can be accessed on-demand with a call, text, or email are really what buyers are turning towards now.

Wellness offerings now include on-call treatments and experiences

“Wellness is not necessarily a new trend,” Eklund said, “but it’s increasing in strength.” 

Self-care has moved beyond the basic amenities that serve physical wellness to include amenities that cater to mental and spiritual wellbeing, he added. 

Take the offerings at 40 Bleecker, a luxury 61-condo building in New York City’s Noho neighborhood, where prices started at $1.9 million for a one-bedroom and surpassed $10 million for a four-bedroom penthouse. (The Eklund-Gomes team sold and marketed the units for sale.) The building, which opened last year, offers its residents in-room cryotherapy and IV therapy in partnership with its retail tenant Clean Market. The treatments help residents snap back from long nights out or from intense workouts. 

Evan Jospeh

The duo also led the charge on selling Maverick, an 87-residence building in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood where currently available condos range from $1.49 million for a one-bedroom to $7.5 million for a three-bedroom with a terrace. The building offers a “spiritual concierge” who helps set residents up with practitioners of hypnotherapy, transcendental yoga, and leaders of other psychic experiences. 

Maverick’s spiritual concierge is available via text or phone call, and that ease-of-use is something that today’s buyer expects. Having these kinds of decentralized perks is both more affordable for homeowners and an easy way to get more out of less space, Eklund noted. “With the technology of our phones today, there’s so much you can do even if you can’t afford to build it into your home,” Eklund said. But, of course, having dedicated spaces for wellness is an added plus.

Gomes said he also sees clients prioritizing wellness experiences within their square footage. 

“An extra room to have a home gym is increasingly popular, even in cities like New York, where there’s not a lot of space,” he said. 

Even in Eklund’s own home in Beverly Hills, California, he has an infrared sauna and a cold plunge pool, though, he admitted, he’s “not the average buyer.”

“Life is a marathon, not a sprint, especially in this industry,” Eklund said. “The more you can invest in yourself, the better.”

The Eklund Gomes Team has big plans for the year ahead

The Eklund Gomes Team plans to grow, even as the real-estate market at large is slowing down. 

Eklund said they want to bring on 50 new agents as well as a national marketing director and an agent concierge, who will aid agents in everything from troubleshooting tech issues to answering questions about the biz.

Williams NY

“We were never interested in size. It’s not about that,” Eklund said, “It’s about becoming the top team not only nationally, which we already are, but within each market and then moving up in price point, moving up in price per square foot, moving up in number of transactions.” 

In 2022 the Eklund Gomes Team expanded into Las Vegas, Nevada, putting it in 13 markets across the country including Texas, where they’re selling the Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin and Florida, where they’re selling the condos of Miami’s forthcoming Waldorf Astoria Residences. Now, it wants to hire up. 

“We’re looking to continue to grow our agent count in each of those cities and continue to boost our market share,” said Spillman.

Fans of Eklund’s television antics should rest assured that he’ll return to the spotlight soon enough. 

While he isn’t ready to disclose what he’s working on, he did offer this: “There’s more TV coming, and I’ll just leave it at that for us.”