Fresh Report: Certified Green Homes Beat the Market
In a market like today's, every advantage counts. Imagine your house selling for 9.1% percent more than comparable listings. What could drive that? A third-party green certification, such as LEED for Homes.
Real estate professionals have anecdotally reported for years that Green homes sell faster and for more money than traditional (brown) homes. Now there is additional hard market data to support this, from an area that has had a Green MLS for quite a few years: Seattle. And the data is recent - up to January 2010.
The complete article and report are here:
http://www.djc.com/news/en/12015059.html
Much like agents in northern Illinois can now do, Seattle agents can flag whether a listing holds certification from Built Green, Energy Star, LEED for Homes or another third-party verifier. They can also attach the certification document directly to the listing.
Because of that, these environmentally certified ("e-certified") homes have been analyzed for trends. An accompanying graph charts the Seattle-area patterns and shows that:
“certified green homes made up 33 percent of the new home market, sold for a 9.1 percent premium per square foot and were on the market for 24 percent less time. Further, from November 2009 through January 2010, King County non-certified homes continued to decrease in value as certified home values increased.”
From a valuation standpoint, the most striking point in the article is this:
“It was eye-opening for appraisers to hear that in July 2009, two years of steady growth in market share of green homes culminated in over 49 percent of new homes sold that month with a certification. Over 50 percent, and appraisers will be required to discount any home that is not green, as that will have become the [new] market norm.”
So why do buyers — the market — pay extra for third-party certification? The reasons range from greater comfort and energy efficiency to a healthier indoor environment, plus durability and reduced maintenance.
True, these numbers come from the Pacific Northwest rather than Illinois. Yet with a green MLS now in place in northern Illinois, they may foreshadow what happens here in a year or two, once transactions begin to accumulate.
It's an exciting moment for Illinois green building and LEED homes. To read the full report, visit: http://www.djc.com/news/en/12015059.html
Story Tags: appraisal, green value, mls, real estate
October 11th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
I really look forward to seeing the data in Illinois in a few years. I’ve been preaching green remodeling for years now, it would be great to show homeowners that it actually pays off in the end.
June 22nd, 2012 at 5:07 am
I have been reading out a few of your stories and i must say pretty clever stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your blog.