Certified Green homes sell for more
Portland-area homes with green credentials command prices an average 30 percent higher than their non-certified counterparts, even while the overall market share of certified green homes in the region took a slight dip, according to new data.
Earth Advantage Institute, a nonprofit green building organization, announced Wednesday the results of its annual certified home analysis for the Portland metro region for the year May 1, 2010 through April 30, 2011 based on Portland Regional Multiple Listing Service data.
The report found that better sales prices were nabbed by both new homes and existing homes with certification of sustainability measures such as energy efficiency and green building materials. The certifications included in the report were either from Earth Advantage, the federal governments Energy Star program and LEED home designations from the U.S. Green Building Council.
In Multnomah County, existing homes with green certification received a whopping premium of 61 percent over the average price of non-certified homes. In Clackamas County, green-certified new homes fetched an average price premium of 23 percent.
“People are willing to pay more for green-certified homes,” said Dakota Gale, sustainable finance program manager, Earth Advantage Institute.
Gale added that the process of certification for new homes is relatively simple. “It’s pretty low-hanging fruit,” he said. “We hold a builders hand all the way through the process.”
Oddly, new homes in Clark County, Wash., with green certification sold for 14 percent less than their non-certified counterparts, the only such anomaly in the analysis.
The overall share of the housing market for green-certified homes dipped slightly in the metro area in the last year, dropping from 19.8 percent of the overall market to 18.2 percent. Green homes were steadily gaining market share each year in recent reports.
“Why? My guess it was a first-time home-buyer market last year and many starter homes aren’t built to green standards,” Gale said.
The report includes Multnomah, Clackamas, Columbia, Washington and Yamhill Counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington. Full data is available from Earth Advantage.
Source: Sustainable Business Oregon
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