-“Aiming to become the largest data-based comprehensive real estate platform in Asia by 2030 and to achieve the No. 1 share of the domestic and international co-living market”
– Establishing a comprehensive real estate ecosystem with various brands ranging from co-living to K-culture and shared villages
-Innovating the real estate market with data and technology
Homes Company is growing into a lifestyle innovation company that increases the value of residential space by evolving from the first domestic co-living brand to a data-based comprehensive real estate company. Despite the recent difficult real estate market situation, it has achieved surplus for five consecutive quarters.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Holmes Company is expected to have an even more important year in 2025. 'Holmes Studio Anam', scheduled to open next month, is the result of collaboration with Morgan Stanley. Collaboration with Morgan Stanley, a global investment bank, is proof that Holmes Company's business model and operational capabilities are recognized at an international level. In addition, it has the effect of increasing business stability by diversifying funding channels, and can lead to improved trust from other global investors. Holmes Company has been actively investing in co-living businesses by establishing a 300 billion won blind fund with British asset management company ICG in 2023. As the rental housing market targeting one- and two-person households is growing, overseas financial companies are showing great interest in the Korean rental housing market.
'Homes Red Myeongdong' is scheduled to officially launch in June of this year. 'Homes Red' is a co-living brand for those who love K-culture. With the differentiated positioning utilizing K-culture called 'Homes Red', Homes Company has not only become competitive in the global market, but has also diversified Homes Company's business portfolio by establishing a specialized co-living model that is one step ahead of the existing co-living (Homes Studio) or accommodation (Homes Stay) model.
The success of the Japanese market is also evident. Homes Company plans to open the second and third Homes Japan stores in the first half of this year. Homes Company successfully opened the first Homes Shinjuku store in Shinjuku, Japan in 2023 in collaboration with Tokyo Real Estate. The success of the Japanese market is expected to provide important experience and confidence for future expansion into other Asian countries (Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, etc.).
We met with Lee Jae-woo, head of the Coville Village & Brand Products Division, at 'Homes Studio Seolleung' in Gangnam, Seoul, and heard about Homes Company's plans and prospects.
Homes Company's ecosystem consisting of various brands
Homes Company operates various brands with different purposes and targets and is building a comprehensive real estate ecosystem.
■ Co-living accommodation for single-person households: Homes Studio & Homes Stay
'Homes Studio' and 'Homes Stay' are compact, independent co-living housing and lodging products for single-person households. They have the characteristic of guaranteeing personal privacy while forming a community through shared spaces. Private rooms have private bathrooms and private kitchens, and shared spaces include shared kitchens, studies, and fitness centers. Homes Studio operates in key areas such as Gangnam, Yongsan, and Mapo in Seoul, while Homes Stay has branches in Myeongdong, Gasan, and Suwon. Homes Stay is a co-living brand that legally utilizes accommodation buildings, and is operated in a form that allows long-term stays such as one month, three months, and six months, rather than short-term stays.
The head of this division explained, “Homes Studio and Homes Stay are new residential models that have improved the quality of life by introducing living lounges. They provide spaces and services such as a study, kitchen, training room, laundry room, and coffee bar that cannot be enjoyed in a one-room apartment, and you can enjoy the comfort of home, the convenience of a hotel, co-working, and the vitality of local life all at once. Specialized lounges that fit the local characteristics have been created to provide diverse customer experiences.”
■ K-Culture Cultural Space Beyond Housing, 'Homesred'
'Homesred' targets people who like K-culture. Its main customers are foreigners who enjoy K-entertainment, K-food, and K-beauty. It is establishing itself as a cultural space beyond a residence, such as by collaborating with entertainment companies to hold K-pop-related conferences and even holding debut stages for new idol groups at Homesred. It plans to expand to Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia in the future.
“Homesred provides an opportunity for people coming to Korea from overseas in search of K-entertainment, K-food, and K-beauty to stay and experience various performances and meet the artists in person,” explained the head of the division.
■ Shared Village, ‘Covillage’
Covillage is a new type of housing where you can leave the city and pursue work-life balance in nature. It is a brand created by Homes Company and Gamsam Architecture. They purchased about 20,000 pyeong of land in Gosung, Gangwon-do and are currently developing it. It is scheduled to begin construction this year. There are various shared spaces such as shared gardens, shared libraries, and shared workshops in the residential spaces that reflect each person's taste, such as single-family homes and apartments, and there are also urban convenience facilities such as retail shops, cultural spaces, and co-working spaces. Local governments that are particularly concerned about population decline are showing great interest in the Covillage project.
The head of this division explained, “Covillage is a concept where people with the same lifestyle live together in a local area, not in the metropolitan area of Seoul. We are creating a village where people of all ages can live together in a nature-friendly and healthy life. We will provide conveniences similar to the city with IoT and AI home appliances, while providing a space that enhances the value of life through various programs for a healthy life.”
■ Find a better living space, 'Homes Select', 'Mr. Homes', 'Welcome Homes'
'Homes Select' is a brand that combines home curation brokerage services for single-person households with operational management. It provides services for managing small villas, etc. with Homes' operational management system. Homes Select aims to have 100 households per subway station, or a total of 10,000 units in 100 stations in Seoul. The aim is to apply Homes' know-how to provide good homes to more people.
'Mr. Holmes' is a real estate brokerage franchise brand that operates more than 110 centers nationwide. It provides local real estate brokerage services and creates synergy with other brands of Holmes Company.
'Welcome Homes' is a neighborhood matching service based on AI algorithms that are tailored to the lifestyle of single-person households. It takes an approach that values the neighborhood itself rather than focusing on rent or deposit.
Data-driven housing innovation, data-driven comprehensive real estate company
The core competitiveness of Holmes Company lies in its data-based decision-making system. Holmes Company is optimizing all stages from asset purchase to operation and liquidation with AI and big data. To this end, it has developed four major solutions.
First, there is the 'AMS' (Asset Management System). It is a property management solution that analyzes local properties registered weekly by more than 110 real estate brokerage centers nationwide and determines whether they are suitable for co-living. 'HSR' (Homes Subway Station Ranking) is an index that analyzes and ranks neighborhoods that are good for single-person households to live in, centered around subway stations. It is a system that automatically evaluates the value of buildings in major subway station areas according to the 'HAVM' (Homes Automated Valuation Model) index. 'HAFM' (Homes Automated Financial Modeling) is a model that immediately analyzes the possibility of purchase and business feasibility through blind funds, and derives whether the required rate of return is met and the appropriate purchase price.
The head of this division emphasized the importance of data, saying, “We review dozens of assets a week, and if we do this manually, it takes a long time and decision-making is bound to be delayed. We have built a system that can make decisions quickly using an internal brokerage center and a solution that analyzes various data.”
Homes Company’s future vision is to become a data-based comprehensive real estate company. The head of this division explained, “The Korean real estate business was inevitably fragmented. Development and implementation were separated into development and implementation, brokerage and brokerage, and operation and operation, so each industry was unable to develop. In order to increase the value of the real estate space we want, we thought we needed to have a comprehensive real estate form from development planning to brokerage and operation. That’s why we are aiming to become a data-based comprehensive real estate company.”
Despite the recent real estate market downturn, Homes Company is differentiating itself as a proptech company with a technology-based approach. “Now, the big difference is whether a company has the technology to increase the value of real estate or to operate it well,” the head of the division explained. “It’s important to introduce technology that can increase efficiency from an asset valuation model and operational perspective that is necessary for purchasing and selling assets.”
Another strength of Holmes Company is its professional team composition. The company, which was co-founded by seniors and juniors of Yonsei University’s Urban Engineering Department, is currently operated under a divisional system. Five divisional representatives, including CEO Tae-Hyun Lee, Jae-Woo Lee, Co-Village & Brand Product Division, Seung-Jun Lee, Co-Living Division, Sang-Cheol Ko, Brokerage Division, and Jong-Hwan Moon, Japan Division, are responsible for each area.
Living space as an experience and value
Experts say that the time has come for the PropTech industry to separate the wheat from the chaff. Currently, the proportion of single-person households is 40%, and when combined with two-person households, it accounts for 70% of the total. The trend of increasing single-person and two-person households is expected to continue in the future. It is pointed out that the supply of apartments centered on existing three- to four-person households has its limits.
The head of this division said, “The perspective on housing is also changing. In the past, ownership and investment value were emphasized, but recently, there has been a strong tendency to view housing in terms of experience, living value, and quality of life. As the perception changes from a place to simply sleep to a living space where various activities can be performed, co-living housing in which companies operate programs and communities will expand even further.”
The head of the division then expressed his ambition, saying, “We aim to become Asia’s largest data-based comprehensive real estate platform by 2030 and achieve the No. 1 share of the domestic and international co-living market.”
Homes Company, which is innovating the paradigm of future housing, is leading new changes in the real estate industry based on data along with improving the quality of life of single-person households. The industry's attention is focused on Homes Company's progress as it evolves beyond co-living into a comprehensive real estate company.
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