Now that the heat is so intense, citizens who have a swimming pool in their homes, whether exclusively for private use or for collective use in private developments, are aware of the privilege they enjoy. There is no doubt that this element provides extra value to the property, although this differentiation does not generically translate into an increase in its price in a possible sale.
This is reflected in a recent study by the real estate portal piso.com on the 50 Spanish provinces, which reveals that "the extra price of having a pool varies radically depending on the market", so we can find "provinces where the difference is almost irrelevant to others where a property with a pool can cost more than three times as much as one without it."
"The swimming pool has ceased to be a dispensable extra and has become a first-order differentiator, but its impact on the price is not uniform, since the market penalizes it much more where land is scarce and the offer with a swimming pool is almost anecdotal," says Ferran Font, director of Estudios depósitos.com.
The most revealing data of the analysis is the gap that opens between having or not having a swimming pool in each market. In this way, in up to twelve Spanish provinces, this difference exceeds 100%; That is to say: a property with a pool costs more than twice as much as a comparable one without it. In Zamora, for example, a 100 square meter apartment with a pool costs an average of 222,296 euros, compared to the 54,639 that we would pay without it, which represents a difference of almost 167,000 euros and a premium of 306.8%. Behind the Zamora province are Cáceres, where the differential in 100 meters is close to 213,000 euros (+275.8%), Ourense (+229.7%), Huesca (+212.4%) and Zaragoza (+159.1%).
"In inland provinces with depressed markets, a property with a pool is usually a single-family home with a plot in a rural or peri-urban environment. It does not compete with the stock of apartments without a pool because they are different categories that the buyer does not exchange with each other, and that is what inflates the statistical gap," says Font.
In coastal areas "it is no longer a plus"
At the other extreme, there are markets, such as the coastal provinces, where the pool is such a widespread feature that it has a very limited impact on the final price of the property due to the abundance of supply, so this differentiating factor is not rewarded. "When practically all the properties in a segment have a pool, it stops being a plus and becomes a standard. On the Costa Blanca or the Costa del Sol, the buyer takes the pool for granted in the search; its absence is what lowers the price, not its presence what raises it," says Font.
According to the aforementioned study, for a 100 square meter property, Alicante registers the smallest difference in all of Spain, with just a 2.7% premium, followed by Málaga (+11.9%), Granada (+13.7%), Guadalajara (+15.9%) and Barcelona (+27.3%).
The most expensive and the cheapest markets
The report from the real estate portal also includes the price of properties with swimming pools in the tourist areas with the greatest demand. In this sense, the Balearic Islands lead the ranking with an average price of 7,045 euros per square meter, followed by Málaga (€5,139/m²), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (€4,839/m²), Las Palmas (€3,944/m²) and Guipúzcoa (€3,782/m²).
"In these provinces, the buyer profile is not only looking for habitual residence, but also value as an investment asset or vacation use, which increases the willingness to pay for features such as a swimming pool."
