If an analysis from Redfin serves as an indicator, swimming pools add value in those areas where they hold a significant presence. But that value differs among markets and price points.
The Seattle-based real-estate brokerage studied how pools affect home values and ranked 20 metropolitan areas. For a metro to qualify for the ranking, at least 5,000 homes needed to sell in 2018, with at least 2% featuring a pool, and the results needed to be statistically significant.
Rankings were based on the average value pools added to the square-foot price of a home. Los Angeles topped the list, with pools estimated to add $95,393 to homes that cost the area’s median sale price of $600,000. Redfin said pools in the Los Angeles area added $56.45 per square foot.
Austin, Texas placed second, with pools adding $52,228 to a $296,000 home, at a $28.67 increase in the per-square-foot cost. Though Orange County, Calif. ranked third because of its per-square-foot increase ($26.47), its total price increase ($55,885) was higher than Austin’s.
Boston, the only qualified metro that experiences snowy winters, placed last, with prices actually dropping nearly $15,500 if a pool is included.
Surprisingly, Phoenix placed near the bottom of the list, in the 19th spot. There, pools only added $5.87 to the square-foot price, and $11,591 to a $267,000 home. But the Valley of the Sun also had the highest percentage of homes that sold with pools last year — 32%.
Also low on the list were Orlando at a ranking of 16; San Diego at 17; and San Antonio, Texas, at 18.
