How New Englanders are leveling up their backyard pools

Home improvement

Here are the latest swimming pool trends — and how much it might cost to install one.

On a lazy summer Sunday, Neddy Merrill set out for a swim across the county, imagining a river made from his neighbors’ swimming pools. This was the beginning of John Cheever’s short story in 1964.Swimmer“.

“He seemed to see with a cartographer’s eye that chain of pools, that semi-subterranean stream that curved through the county,” Schaefer wrote. Merrill’s plunge was as symbolic as it was chlorinated, and, at least initially, pools represented promise, prosperity, nostalgia, and romance. (the 1968 film version It was filmed in neighboring Connecticut.)

And in 2026, Massachusetts residents can add another point of inspiration: It’s getting hotter. With temperatures rising and summer extending longer than ever before, Massachusetts ranks in the top 10 for residential pool installations, not far behind the scorching climates of Florida and Arizona, according to RenoSys’ 2025 Industry Report.

It ranks sixth nationally in indoor pools installed per 100,000 residents, at 1,847 per 100,000 residents, said Sabina Hickman, president and CEO of the Massachusetts company. Pool & Hot Tubs Alliancea Virginia-based nonprofit industry group, cited PKData 2025 numbers.

Plunge pools and “natural” swimming pools.

“We’re now finding that people are desperate for a body of water in their backyard because it’s hotter,” said Karen Larson, co-founder of the Water Park. Swimming poolsa New Hampshire-based company that manufactures plunge pools for year-round use. Micro plunge pools are an emerging market. They can fit into tight backyards, use less water, and require less energy to heat.

While high temperatures may push some into the water, the issue of the environmental consequences of a swimming pool arises. Building and operating swimming pools can be a lot Environmental impactTransportation fuels, emissions, materials, water supply, and maintenance chemicals all add up.

Landscape Designer in Nantucket Jesse Dutra “Natural swimming pools” designs across the country. He said a “natural pool” is simply a pool that does not use chlorine, but instead relies on a biological process to purify the water using what he calls a “regeneration zone.” The chlorine-free approach has helped customers add pools in areas where local law may prohibit the use of pool chemicals, or where nearby wetlands may be at risk.

The pools follow all the standard instructions expected of a traditional pool, including tray design and electrical requirements.

“This has been very popular because people like the idea of ​​not using chlorine, but they want a pool that looks like a regular pool, and this can accomplish that,” Dutra said.

While some pools are designed to blend into the landscape, others may look like a traditional pool.

“We did one in a small backyard in Cambridge,” he said. “…You can create a very small natural swimming pool, and the way you can create your own replenishment areas is that you can integrate them into the decks, so they don’t really take up any additional space.”

“The problem here is that in some parts of the country where temperatures are rising, they also have water conservation rules or rules about water and pool size, so we’re kind of satisfying both now,” Larson said.

Soake’s largest pool is 7 feet by 13 feet. The pools, whose prices start at $40,000, take about six weeks to manufacture, Larson said. Orders often spike during heatwaves, but unlike traditional inground pools, they can be installed by the end of summer if ordered in July. Based on their size, Larson estimates the company’s models use about 90 percent less water, which is a bonus for conserving water and heat resources.

“Whether you’re pro-environmental or not, most people are pro-environmental with their checkbooks,” she said.

Invest in a pool

But the reason swimming pools have historically been so popular in Massachusetts may not have been so much climate as affluence, said David Hobica, CEO of the Massachusetts Foundation. Easton Select Collectiona cooperative of swimming pool industry service providers.

“If you live in a home worth more than $1 million, adding a pool is something that is achievable for a lot of people,” he said.

Hobeika said that prices for indoor pools with vinyl inserts start at about $75,000, while custom pools made of firearms range in price from $150,000 and above. (Gunite is a high-pressure cement mixture used to create a durable pool surround.)

The coalition is tracking a shift in how homeowners finance complexes, as they increasingly see buyers tapping into stocks, bonds and retirement accounts rather than the traditional way of using home equity, Hickman said. (Homeowners should also consider the cost of fencing, and check state and municipal requirements about the construction process.)

“When you take into account the rising cost of travel, we believe more families will choose to invest in their backyard this year and next,” she said. “The pool became the destination.”

However, don’t install a pool if increasing home value is a major motivator, industry experts say. The increase will be marginal at best. (If that’s the goal, try renovating the primary bedroom instead, according to one.) A recent study by the National Association of Realtors.)

“Pools don’t add value in my opinion,” said Bea Murphy, a Realtor with Lamacchia Real Estate Company in Braintree. “You either want one or you don’t.”

Murphy doesn’t adjust prices if the home has a basic pool, but for more luxurious “outdoor oasis” settings, she said it can add value as an outdoor living space. This will include features such as a pool house and braai area.

“For some, swimming pools are a money pit…the cost of maintaining and maintaining them…plus the liability risk,” she said. Murphy said she chose not to use the pool when purchasing her own home, due to safety concerns with young children.

“Personally, I prefer going to a friend’s house that has a pool,” she said. “We live near the ocean, and we can go to the beach.”

The premium for adding the group nationally is “essentially zero,” said Matt Cramer, director of communications at Zillow.

However, in Massachusetts, they may make little difference; Homes with pools add 0.8 percent to the sales price and sell 0.7 days faster (fastest in Worcester, Springfield, and on the Cape). Just under 12 percent of listings include a pool in the state, compared to 19 percent nationally, and Cramer said scarcity likely explains the premium here, compared to elsewhere in the country.

“Swimming pools signify an improvement in lifestyle in a climate where it is not the norm,” he said.

“Pool owners are taking advantage of new features to enhance this lifestyle,” said CEO David Hobaika. Easton Select Collectiona cooperative of swimming pool industry service providers.

This includes automatic pool covers that help support child safety; More efficient variable speed pumps; Sun shelves, a design feature that creates a shallow ledge area, are popular with families.

Like Airbnb, but for pools

Swimming pools are a backdrop to childhood memories, but what happens when children grow up? This often coincides with other considerations related to the home, Hobeika said.

“There comes a point where work may become too much for someone, but this usually coincides with ‘it’s all too much’ – the house is too big, and it’s time to downsize.”

But when Mark Donato’s wife and children stopped using his pool in Billerica, one of his friends mentioned that she was renting time at her pool in Swimblya platform that allows visitors to reserve time at private residential swimming pools. Donato I signed up tooAnd the pool — complete with diving board — is back in business.

“I don’t want to toot my own horn, but people love us,” he said. “They think we’re really nice and nice people [that] “We are very cooperative.”

In the past two years, the couple has hosted about eight reservations a week, ranging from someone who comes in weekly to read a book, to entire children’s birthday parties, Donato said. They took the opportunity to extend hospitality to guests, decorating their back lounge area and adding outdoor bathroom facilities. There is a grill and cornhole. Donato heated the 20,000-gallon pool to 82 degrees and said he ran a tight cleaning and filtration process for the vessel.

“I think it comes down to the little things, which is having the floats, having the pasta, having a Bluetooth speaker they can use,” he said.

Swimbly reported that demand for pool reservations in the Boston area has increased 550 percent in the past five years, after launching in the area in 2020. Milton, Westwood, and Concord offered the highest total hosting fees ($25,000, $24,000, and $22,000 annually, respectively). For pool reservations, Boston ranks No. 17 among cities on the platform nationally. (Swimply offers up to $1 million in liability protection to guests.)

In Cape Town, what lies in the ocean offers another reason to save swimming inland. A warming climate means warming oceans, which has affected shark migration patterns. Dark sharks, similar to Great whiteis expected to be Active off Cape Cod This summer, experts He said.

“I’ve had clients tell me over the years specifically that they don’t want to deal with beaches and sharks,” Hobeika said.

---