NAR Study: Homebuyers Focus on Sustainability – NMP
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NAR Study: Homebuyers Focus on Sustainability

Apr 25, 2018

Real estate brokers are finding greenbacks in green home sales, according to a new study released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
 
Sixty-one percent of real estate brokers surveyed by the trade group stated that consumers are interested in sustainability in their potential homes, while 71 percent of respondents said the promotion of efficiency in listings was either somewhat or very valuable. Forty percent of survey respondents said their Multiple Listing Service have green data fields, while 15 percent said theirs did not.
 
The green hue also permeated the commercial real estate sector, with 70 percent of agents and brokers stating that promoting energy efficiency in their commercial listings was very or somewhat valuable. The top building features that clients specified as very or somewhat important were utility/operation costs (80 percent), efficient use of lighting (64 percent) and indoor air quality (62 percent).
 
“Consumers continue to make it clear that environmentally friendly features and neighborhoods are an important factor in deciding where and what home to buy,” said NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall, who is also Chief Executive Officer of RE/MAX Boone Realty in Columbia, Mo. “Realtors are leaders in the conversation about real estate sustainability, energy conservation and resource efficiency, and will continue to promote environmentally conscious strategies and best practices that benefit not just our clients, but also our communities.”
 
The NAR survey follows a recently released data analysis from Redfin that found green homes sold for $46,532 more during 2017 than homes without green features. Redfin analyzed sales in more than 80 major metro areas between January 2017 and April 2018 and concluded that homes with one or more green features carried a median price of $569,378, while the median price of all homes sold in that time period $522,845.
 
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Phil Hall
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Apr 25, 2018
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