The debate is at least as ancient as Rome, where the first heated swimming pool was built for
 Gaius Maecenas—an adviser to Emperor Augustus Caesar—sometime between 38 and 8 BC. The question under debate: Does a swimming pool add value to your house? (Or palazzo, as
 the case may be in Rome.)

The answer, of course, is…. yes, no, or maybe.

Why the hedge? As the first commandment of property marketing states unequivocally, “all
 real estate is local,” which is to say that every market is subject to its own unique set of
 circumstances governing local home values. In many places a pool adds great value to a
 property—both real and perceived. In other places, not so much.

In Maine, northern Wisconsin or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, for example, a swimming
 pool could easily be regarded as an unnecessary extravagance—or worse, a nuisance—given
 the short cool summers and long harsh winters for which these areas are well known; and
 against which swimming pools must be routinely covered and protected. As prestigious and
 enjoyable as having a swimming pool can be, they simply aren’t a must-have amenity for most 
buyers in these colder climates, except perhaps in the wealthier neighborhoods. Even there, you
 wouldn’t be judged harshly for not having a pool.

In Southwest Florida—on the other hand—with its famously long, hot, and humid summers, a
 backyard swimming pool is hardly an extravagance. Indeed, it is viewed by many as a 
instrument of survival! And your home best have one or it could take longer to sell in many
 Florida neighborhoods. People move to Florida wanting a pool, perhaps for the first time in 
their lives, and they realize there’s a premium attached to the dream that they are more than
 willing to pay.

In hot weather states like Florida and Arizona, a well-placed, well-proportioned in-ground
 swimming pool on your property could easily earn you 7% or more when you are ready to sell,
 according to the National Association of Realtors. Moreover, the longer you plan to live in your 
home the more the cost of constructing a pool can be amortized over all the years you are able 
to use it.

More than just another way to beat the heat, our Florida swimming pool is often an integral
 part of our home’s landscape and décor and the setting for many of our most memorable 
family and social gatherings. And when summer turns to fall, then fall to winter, our pools are 
still enjoyable, even if not terribly swimmable for us warm-blooded Floridians—unless heated,
 of course. Best of all, they don’t require pumps being shut down, pipes drained, covered over,
 and made to look vaguely forbidding. Instead, their clean blue aesthetic is ours to enjoy all year 
long.

It is impossible to attach a price tag to the health and lifestyle benefits that accrue when you
 use your pool regularly to stay mobile, keep fit and boost your cardiovascular health. In fact,
 during the Covid outbreak,  when we abruptly found ourselves quarantining at home for an
 extended period, the demand for properties with in-ground swimming pools went through the 
roof and has stayed there ever since. Apparently, a few homeowners are determined
 no to be caught flat-footed without a pool the next time an epidemic strands them at home.
 At the end of the day, whether a pool is a worthwhile addition to your home or property 
depends on the specific housing market and neighborhood you live in. For all the reasons cited
 above, it is probably worth the expense to build an in-ground swimming pool in most
 Southwest Florida neighborhoods.

But why take our word for it? Another benefit of living in Florida is that there are thousands of
 licensed Realtors® living the Florida dream as well. In fact, the REALTOR® Association of 
Sarasota and Manatee (RASM) is the largest real estate trade association in the Southwest 
Florida region. Someone you know well is probably a member in good standing with access to a 
wealth of statistics on closed property sales. Without too much ado, any capable Realtor® will 
be happy to compare closed sales of homes with pools to sales of comparable homes without 
pools to come up with a range of values you could expect by adding a pool to your property.
 Indeed, they may already have the facts at their fingertips as you are likely not the first to ask 
them this age-old question.

But before you rush out and build a pool worthy of a Disney theme park or Ritz-Carlton Hotel it
 is also a good idea to contact your county’s property appraiser’s office to learn how pools are 
assessed in your jurisdiction. There is often a ceiling imposed on pool valuations, so you 
shouldn’t go overboard in the design of yours, unless you don’t mind the added expense.