Forget rooftop pools and private yoga rooms — the most important new luxury home amenity is a state-of-the-art air filtration system

• Real estate agents in California have seen a surge of requests from clients for homes that come with high-quality air filtration, reports The Los Angeles Times' Sean Dean.
• California has been battling historic wildfires that have severely worsened air quality.
• The country also continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic, and as people are spending more time in their homes, the wealthy want to ensure that the air inside is as clean as it can be.

Luxury air filtration systems have become the latest must-have amenity among the wealthy, according to the Los Angeles Times' Sam Dean.

The surge of interest is especially apparent in California, as the state battles some of the most devastating wildfires in its history. These fires are further polluting an already polluted sky, leading to unhealthy air quality, the Times previously reported.

The pandemic, in addition to the polluted air, has led some wealthy homebuyers to begin specifically requesting to view homes that come with "clean air" or "air filtration" as an amenity — similar to the way one would previously request a hot tub or an in-home gym.

"Suddenly it's a topic of conversation," Carl Gambino, a Los Angeles-based real estate agent, told the Times. Gambino said he recently sold a $14.1 million and a $23.5 million house in the area, each of which had deluxe air filtration as a key selling point.

Real-estate developer and investor Gregory Malin told the Times that he'd begun marketing filtered air as a wellness amenity over a decade ago, recently adding a nearly $200,000 ventilation system to a 12,000-square-foot Bay Area home project he worked on.

Cleaner, more filtered air isn't just a draw in single-family residences. Luxury apartment buildings are also taking note of the interest and adjusting offerings accordingly.

Candace Jackson at Town and Country reported in August that developers, real estate agents, and architects were betting on "hospital-grade HVAC systems and germ-zapping UV filers" to lure in clients as the pandemic continues to take hold.

"Before, these systems were something that was a want," Adam Sires, a Beverly Hills broker, told the publication. "Now they're becoming something that's a need."

Eco-friendly and wellness amenities have been among the biggest trends in high-end housing for the last several years, Business Insider's Lina Batarags and Katie Warren each previously reported. But amid the pandemic, high-quality air filtration systems have suddenly become a lot more vital to some buyers than rooftop running tracks and resident-only meditation rooms.