By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR Magazine
More studies are showing the power of green on boosting sales prices. In the most recent study, University of California researchers found that green-certified, single-family homes sold for $34,800 more — or 9 percent more — than comparable non-green certified homes.
Researchers analyzed 1.6 million home sales from 2007 to 2012 to determine if “green” really helped homes net more at times of resale.
The researchers called the findings the “Prius effect,” since the California cities that had the highest sales prices of green homes also were in places that had the highest sales of electric vehicles.
“We observed a phenomenon we’ve termed the ‘Prius effect’ — a positive correlation between the value of green home labels and environmental ideology, as measured by the rate of hybrid registrations,” co-author Nils Kok, visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told USA Today. Such residents may view green homes as “a point of pride or status symbol,” Kok added.
Previous studies that focused on home sales in Seattle and Portland, Ore., also found that “green” homes sell for higher dollar–as well as stay on the market a fewer number of days. Continue reading »
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Some recent studies suggest that green homes sell faster and for higher dollar than their non-energy saving counterparts. For example, in Seattle, new homes certified green (such as from the government’s Energy Star or U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED) sold for 22 percent more per square foot and spent 12 percent less time on the market, according to the ECert report by GreenWorks Realty in Seattle, which analyzed data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service of new homes sold from September 2007 to February 2010. (Green homes made up 6 percent of the market.)
Similar results were found in a separate study of “green” certified homes in Portland. New homes in that region sold for 18 percent more while existing-homes with a certification sold for 23 percent more compared to non-green homes, according to Earth Advantage Institute, which pulled data from the Portland area Regional Multiple Listing Service of homes sold from 2009 to 2010.
While more buyers are expressing an interest in “green” energy efficient materials in homes, they’re finding that going “green” can be expensive. For example, solar water heating systems can cost between $1,500 to $3,500 and solar panels upwards to $15,000. (It’s important to note that cheaper “green” alternatives for your home exist that can still offer savings to your utility bills, such as changing out your light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs can reduce electricity costs.)
Some home owners or buyers are turning to Energy Efficient Mortgages or EEMs to curtail the costs of installing green features. Continue reading »
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