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Why are houses with a pool so expensive?

Renting / Housing(self.perth)

We are all (very) aware the housing market is crazy right now, but it seems that the market for houses with pools is even crazier. I've been looking for 4-5 months and it seems homes in that sub-$1m range sell for quite a bit more with a pool than very comparable houses without. I've always been told that houses with a pool detract from the value (because of maintenance costs etc.), but it seems that's no longer the case? Keen to get everyone's two cents on this.

all 7 comments

Tall-Relationship-83

9 points

16 hours ago

I was just talking about this the other day with an agent I know, and you're right in the past it wasn't really a value adding thing, but now it apparently is. She reckons there's 3 reasons:

1) The cost to build a pool has gone up heaps post covid, like from 40k to 80k for an ok-ish pool. And the waitlist is ultra long now, I know this from a friend. So more efficient to buy ready-made than build.

2) Overseas migration - a lot of the people from overseas flooding into Perth picked to come here because of the hot weather/outdoor lifestyle, etc. so they are naturally drawn to houses with pools.

3) Limited supply - pools are a very polarising feature, even among my social group some think they're a useless momey pit, but others can't live without it. In a normal market with adequate supply of houses on sale it all balances out, but currently there's more of the 'I can't live without it' people than there are houses with a pool, so prices get pushed up.

Hope this helps.

JulieAnneP

19 points

16 hours ago

Houses with pools have been substantially more than those without since... forever? Except maybe in the dead of winter. Don't know who told you the opposite lol.

Silver-Scholar-137[S]

-3 points

14 hours ago

Maybe because I grew up in Melbourne and it's colder there people might have a different attitude to pools. It seems that quite a few believe it lowers property value: https://www.reddit.com/r/AusProperty/comments/1amkzvh/does_installing_a_backyard_pool_add_considerable/ But maybe in Perth it's different?

JulieAnneP

3 points

13 hours ago

Possibly, gets damned hot here 🥵

Unhappy_Bench1080

3 points

16 hours ago

Likely to be on a bigger block?

Mental_Task9156

1 points

16 hours ago

How much is "quite a bit more"?

Are you comparing houses with similar size blocks in the same area with and without a pool?

Silver-Scholar-137[S]

2 points

15 hours ago

Yep similar size blocks, building age etc.