Kathleen Finnegan

more buyers go for ‘green’

 With rising heating bills expected this fall, more home buyers may be lured to energy-efficient home features.

Nearly nine out of 10 recent home buyers say that heating and cooling costs were “somewhat important” or “very important” in choosing a home to purchase, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ latest Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Twenty-four percent of respondents also said energy-efficient appliances and lighting were important.

Buyers in the North and South place a greater weight on heating and cooling costs in guiding their home purchases. Also, new-home buyers placed higher value on environmentally friendly features than those who purchased existing homes, the NAR survey finds.

In 2008, NAR launched the Green Designation, which has provided training to nearly 9,000 real estate professionals for marketing homes with green features and building sustainable business practices.

“Consumer demand for greener homes and features has grown considerably over the past several years,” says NAR President Gary Thomas. “Going green has proven to be more than a trend; many people now seek out this way of living and want homes and communities that are more resource-efficient and sensitive to the environment. As energy savings and green building features are becoming more important to buyers, sellers, and businesses, it comes as no surprise that consumers are placing a higher value on properties with those features.”

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 16th, 2013 at 9:22 am and is filed under Design Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.