What’s Next for Branded Residences - Brands Shaping the Future of Living | By Jonathan Worsley

Global demand for branded residences is at an all-time high, with Asia at the forefront of development in this exciting asset class in the hospitality sector. The region’s branded residences market is currently worth US$26.6 billion, with more than 68,000 units delivered so far and demand continuing to surge across Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Thailand leads the market with a 23.3% share, followed by the Philippines (17.3%) and South Korea (11.6%), while emerging markets such as Malaysia, Vietnam, and India collectively account for 24.5% of the total market share.

Over the past four years, the sector has experienced robust growth, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11%. From 2025 onwards, an additional 43,100 units across 180 projects are expected to be completed, almost doubling the existing supply of branded residences in the region. Thailand currently has the highest number of launched units in the primary market, with 12,656 units across 55 projects, while Vietnam has the largest number of upcoming units, with 11,390 announced across 36 developments.

Globally, the branded residences market has grown a staggering 176% in the last decade. Almost 690 projects are in operation and 617 more are set to launch by 2030, with Asia leading this rapid expansion.

After the overwhelming success of the inaugural Branded Residences Forum – launched during FHS World in Dubai last year and now an annual event in its own right – this booming sector will take centre stage in Thailand this June, with the first edition of The Branded Residences Forum Asia.

Taking place on 25 June at the Athenee Hotel, Bangkok, The Branded Residences Forum Asia builds on the foundations set at the Dubai event last October, where industry experts addressed key topics surrounding the sector, from investment opportunities to innovation and sustainability to shared living spaces. The sister summit in Bangkok will take another deep dive into this burgeoning business, with the most influential developers, hospitality brands, investors and industry players exploring opportunities, tackling challenges, celebrating the success and shaping the future of this dynamic sector. Among them: founding event sponsor Accor One Living; leading sector consultants Global Branded Residences; global hospitality giant Marriott International; and leading branding and creative agencies QUO and Sectorlight.

In the run up to the event, I sat down with some of the biggest, most respected brains in branded residences to get their take on the industry today, tomorrow and beyond.

In your opinion, why has the branded residences sector grown so quickly in a relatively short time. What does this unprecedented growth mean for potential investors?

While there has been rapid recent growth in the branded residential space, the sector is long established. This year, we proudly celebrate 40 years of Four Seasons Private Residences. Starting in 1985 at our first property in Boston, we have since developed a portfolio that is set to include 60 properties by the end of 2025. Buyers have driven this growth as they respond to the value proposition that hospitality brands have the expertise to deliver on a long-term basis. As buyers and investors enjoy greater variety of options and investments respectively, we foresee growing demand around what brands will provide to ensure continued success and market leadership. James Price, Senior Vice President, Residential Development, Marketing & Sales, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts 

Alexandra Yao, Vice President- Global Branded Residences, IHG Hotels & Resorts commented: Covid really sparked the growth of branded residences in recent times coupled with people having multiple home bases in which they could remotely work from added to the growth. This presents a great opportunity for Developers/Investors to continue to grow the branded residential business as many buyers continue to expand their global home bases.

Jeff Tisdale Chief Business Officer, Accor One Living, added: The branded residences sector has certainly emerged from a niche concept a few decades ago to a key driver of global hospitality growth. Groups like Accor have been very successful at translating their luxury and lifestyle hospitality models into elevated modern living experiences, to the point where we are now expanding into the premium segment as well. Growth drivers include a surge in demand for a second, third and even fourth home; the desire for seamless, turnkey recreational homes that can be rented out while homeowners are away; and generational wealth transfer among high net worth and ultra-high net worth buyers who see real estate as an important element of their wealth management strategies and family legacies. From a developer perspective, hospitality brands resonate with buyers and provide differentiation in a crowded real estate market. This further enhances perceived value for consumers, and creates added value for developers by driving premiums, economics and accelerated returns.

Omar Romero, Chief Development and Luxury Officer, Minor Hotel Group Limited, agreed that buyers’ demand for effortless living by a trusted brand is a key driver of growth. Branded residences have surged in popularity due to a growing demand for trust, consistency, and lifestyle integration in real estate. Today’s buyers are not only seeking exceptional design and hospitality — they’re also seeking effortless living, where every need is anticipated and catered for. Purchasing within a brand they trust and emotionally connect with offers peace of mind and a seamless extension of their preferred way of life. For investors, this represents both a resilient asset class and a differentiated product with strong long-term appeal. At Minor Hotels, we see branded residences as a natural extension of our values — wellness, experiential living, and uncompromising service — making them a key growth enabler for our group.

Branded residences continue to transform luxury real estate, offering a seamless blend of hospitality, design, and investment value. Becoming part of this sector appears to be a win-win for developers, operators and investors – but what are some of the hurdles to overcome to ensure branded residences concepts become a successful reality?

Jeff Tisdale said, Choosing the right hospitality brand to match a location and a specific target market is a precise exercise. We always say the purchase of a branded residence is the ultimate expression of loyalty. Homeowners are choosing to embrace a certain brand ethos and lifestyle in their everyday lives. Our role is to curate distinct, immersive, and personalised residential experiences that bring our brands to life for homeowners. We created Accor One Living to support our development partners through all stages of a project from planning, sales, and marketing through operations. This enables us to support the expectations and lifestyles conveyed during the sales phase, by ensuring this vision is brought to life through the experience we cultivate once operations commence.

While the branded residence model presents clear advantages, successful execution requires alignment in vision, operational capability, and long-term brand commitment. Challenges often arise in ensuring consistent service standards, managing owner expectations, and maintaining the brand’s integrity over time. At Minor Hotels, we view this as an opportunity — not just to sell real estate, but to extend our DNA of wellness, sustainability, and experiential hospitality into the residential space. Developers and operators must prioritise authenticity, ongoing service excellence, and seamless integration of brand values into the lived experience, added Omar Romero.

James Price commented, Four Seasons collaborates with development partners who share our vision for delivering exceptional homes in destinations where future homeowners want to live, work, and enjoy. Understanding buyer profiles and market characteristics is a critical stage of the development process, and luxury branded residential projects must ensure a comprehensive understanding of both to deliver a great product to residents and a strong investment to developers. There is an increasing assumption of pricing uplift with brands, but this is only feasible if the fundamentals of what drives value in real estate are adhered. Beyond simply providing a recognised brand name, an efficient operating model and well-resourced team will together ensure the exceptional service standard of Four Seasons residences worldwide. In addition to well-planned common areas, amenities, and back of house facilities, we can confidently position a project for success long after its completion.

A key hurdle to overcome and understand thoroughly is compliance with local real estate laws and in the case of publicly listed companies such as IHG, a thorough understanding of US SEC compliance as well, especially when it comes to branded residential projects with a rental programme component attached to it. We always want to ensure full compliance with all legal regulations as well as finding a way to protect our brand, our development partners, and the buyers, added Alexandra Yao.

Asia is now at the forefront of the branded residences sector, with Bangkok and Phuket among the world’s top locations for projects. What can these and other Asian locations learn from the experiences in ‘older’ branded residences markets – such as cities in Miami, New York and London?

While established markets like New York, Miami, and London have long demonstrated the value of brand affiliation, service excellence, and design-led residences, Asia is quickly setting new benchmarks of its own. At Minor Hotels, our experience with Anantara Layan Residences in Phuket is a case in point — the project has consistently outperformed the market, achieving significant premiums over other luxury peers. Demand remains strong, validating the power of a trusted brand paired with exceptional design, privacy, and wellness-led living. The key takeaway for Asia is to localise global best practices while staying true to authentic, lifestyle-driven experiences that resonate with today’s high-end buyers, said Omar Romero.

Alexandra Yao said: Looking at older projects is a great way to gather best practices and learnings. The older branded residential projects are predominately in the US and have paved the way with decades of experience that we can all learn from in each aspect of a branded residential’s project lifecycle: Development, Legal, Sales & Marketing, Technical Services and Operations. It’s also important to take the best practices/learnings and tailor them to fit the local Asian markets as each branded residential project is truly unique and we always want to ensure each project reflects the highlight and needs of buyers in each location.

Jeff Tisdale added, While the concept started in the Americas with brands like Fairmont, branded residences are now extremely well established in Asia and other parts of the world. Accor, for example, entered the Asia market in 2007 - nearly 20 years ago - with Raffles Residences. One very important insight gathered through our experience is that it is absolutely essential to position the hotel as the extension of the living experience, and not the other way round. There is a delicate balance which must be achieved in branded homeowner communities – providing privacy and exclusivity on one hand, and service, convenience, and modern lifestyles on the other. Co-located hotels for instance, allow residents to enjoy a compelling array of 24/7, on-demand services, yet we carefully consider how to use design and space to create discreet access and protect the privacy of homeowners. Our goal is to deliver a residentially minded service philosophy to ensure the privacy of homeowners is respected and safeguarded at every turn.

We see a huge opportunity in Asia due to the market’s ability to offer primary residences and vacation homes in city centres and resort destinations. At Four Seasons, an elevated ownership experience is paramount. In addition to offering investment opportunities and delivering enhanced sales performance, the long-term delivery of what it means to be a Four Seasons homeowner is characterised by a service-rich living experience that considers community, quality, and pride in ownership as integral parts of what it means to live with a globally renowned brand that our owners know and trust, commented James Price.

Finally, I asked the experts about the importance of ‘add on’ features such as co-working concepts, shared living and private clubs.

Omar Romero said, Add-on features are increasingly central to the branded residence experience. Residents today seek more than just luxury — they crave connection, flexibility, and purposeful amenities. Elements like co-working spaces, wellness hubs, curated experiences, and private clubs reinforce a sense of community and elevate day-to-day living. At Minor Hotels, we see these features not as extras, but as extensions of our core values: personalised service, experiential hospitality, and holistic well-being. By integrating them into our branded residences, we deliver richer, more meaningful lifestyles that truly set our developments apart.

James added, Founded on world-class property management and service excellence, the critical elements of success are being in the best locations, having the very best architecture and design, and delivering a seamless ownership experience. As we seek to create communities within our properties, wellness, entertainment, and business amenities will always benefit from Four Seasons commitment to creating beautiful yet functional spaces to connect as a group, or recharge alone. With six decades of extensive luxury hospitality leadership across 47 countries, Four Seasons knows the elements that are most valued by their buyers and guests. While the branded residential sector continues to evolve and the demands of our discerning buyers change, Four Seasons will continue to place human connection at the heart of the service we deliver to ensure that homes can grow alongside the needs of our valued residents.

Alexandra Yao said: Add on features are a nice way to further differentiate a branded residential project and give them additional unique selling points.

Driving the performance of our hotel and resort assets for our investment and development partners is the first step, but operators who successfully extend their management solutions and brands to residential, coworking, extended stay, and private club concepts can unlock immense value. With judicious management across multiple components of a mixed-use development and through thoughtful sharing of amenities, facilities and infrastructure, we can leverage our partners’ capital investment for greater use and increase efficiencies. We also broaden our demographic reach and deepen our roots in the community when we weave in a balance of offerings that appeal to both locals and travellers – such as entertainment venues, boutique fitness clubs, spas with advanced technology, collaborations with local businesses and world-famous restaurateurs. When and if economies fluctuate or markets shift, we have a more diverse source of revenue streams to rely on and a stronger, more resilient business model, concluded Jeff Tisdale.

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The Branded Residences Forum Asia takes place on 25 June at the Athenee Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Bangkok. Find out more and register to attend here.