With the housing market back on the rise, homeowners are putting finances back into their homes slowly but surely. Whether it is a kitchen remodel, building a back deck, or adding a swimming pool and hot tub in the backyard, homes are once again becoming a profitable financial asset.
People add swimming pools, hot tubs, and spas to their homes to enjoy time with their family, to have a place to entertain outdoors, and to add financial value to their homes. With so many reasons to build, remodel, or repair swimming pools, we can see why outdoor water entertainment areas have become so popular in the US.
While assume that there are many types of people are investing in pools, hot tubs etc. for their homes, there are certain ‘consumer profiles’ that these buyers can fall into.
According to a swimming pool industry study done by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, we should consider these five main consumer profiles: feature and location, simple life, family life, elite, and active adult elite. Each consumer profile is represented by certain lifestyle, income, age group, and value-based criteria.
The study was conducted in five separate regions of the US: Florida, the Southwest, Texas, California, and finally the Pacific Northwest.
After reading the results, the ‘elite’ consumer profile is considered most likely to undergo new pool construction, and has the highest likelihood of adding a pool to their home.
The elite consumer profile indicates that these people are: between the ages of 35 to 64, own homes worth $500k+, and many of them hold post-graduate degrees. It is also noted that they value: privacy, prestige, customization, and options.
Within the previously mentioned regions of the US, citizens in the ‘elite’ consumer group made 39% of the purchases within the swimming pool industry between 2009 and the first quarter of 2012. This group also has more than 4x times the likelihood of purchasing a new swimming pool compared to the average household in the US.
This consumer group is close to representing half of all new pool projects within this time period.
After sifting through this data, there still lies the question as to whether these conclusions would concur with other regions of the US. Is the same ‘elite’ consumer group still purchasing the majority of swimming pools in Maryland? What about New York? We can assume that this trend is similar across the US, but there is no factual data in this particular study to prove that.
