SANTA CLARA, Calif.,
April 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Homes
with eco-friendly features do not always command a premium price
tag in today's hot housing market, according to analysis from
realtor.com®, a leading online real estate
destination.
In honor of Earth Day, realtor.com® analyzed current
listings in the top 200 U.S. metros to determine the market
availability of "green" homes with any of seven eco-friendly
features, such as solar panels, smart thermostats or bamboo floors,
and evaluated how much more – or less – these homes may cost a
prospective homebuyer.
"Although Southern and Western states still lead the way in
green technology adoption, eco-friendly features have grown in
popularity across many regions of the
United States," said Javier
Vivas, director of economic research for
realtor.com®. "Many buyers have come to expect standard
features, and homes integrating specialty green features are
becoming more mainstream. However, in today's inventory-starved
market, location still reigns supreme and the price of land can
easily override the allure of special eco-friendly features."
The "greenest" metro of them all
Prospective
homebuyers in the Fort Collins,
Colo. metro area have the highest likelihood of finding a
home with integrated "green" features, with 36 percent of its
April 2018 listings noting at least
one sustainable living feature. Following closely behind are the
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas and San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa
Clara, Calif., metro areas at 35 percent of listings
each.
Although homes with eco-friendly features are four percent more
expensive than the median home price in the Dallas metro area, there is essentially no
price difference between "green" homes and the median home price in
Fort Collins. Notably, homebuyers
looking in Sunnyvale/San Jose/Santa
Clara may find homes with sustainable living features for
five percent less than the local median home price.
Of the top 10 "green" metros, buyers in Tulsa, Okla., will pay the biggest premium –
19 percent – if buying a home with existing eco-friendly features
is a priority. Those in Salinas,
Calif., have the biggest price advantage, as "green"
listings are 14 percent below the median home price. However, while
three California metros show that
"green" homes are less expensive relative to the median home price
in their respective areas, keep in mind that the median home price
in each metro is significantly higher than those in other
states.
Solar panels soak up the sun in California and Arizona
California dominated seven of the top ten
markets with the highest concentration of listings featuring solar
panels, with the San
Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., area leading the list at
6.1 percent of total listed homes. Salinas, Calif., and Arizona's Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metro areas follow closely behind
at 4.8 percent and 4.6 percent of total listings featuring solar
panels, respectively.
Good news for buyers who want integrated solar panels in their
new home: every market aside from Prescott, Ariz., and Fresno, Calif., showed that prices of solar
panel homes were the same or less than the median home price in
each market. In Salinas, Calif.,
buyers save on average $233,850 on
homes featuring solar panels when compared to the metro's median
listing price of $917,050. However,
in Prescott, Ariz., new homeowners
will need to add $78,200 to the
metro's median home price of $400,050.
Programmable thermostats heat up home prices in Oklahoma, Alabama and Texas
Homes featuring programmable
thermostats will likely cost homebuyers more, adding up to 20
percent in Montgomery, Ala., 17
percent in Tulsa, Okla., 15
percent in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission,
Texas metro area, and 12 percent in the Oklahoma City metro area.
The Tulsa metro area has the
highest proportion of smart thermostat home listings at 31 percent,
followed by San Antonio at 28
percent and Fort Collins, Colo. at
25 percent.
Some of the price differences may be attributed to the fact that
median home prices in these four metros are all below the national
median price of $280,000, ranging
from $176,944 for Montgomery, Ala., to $239,650 for Oklahoma
City.
ENERGY STAR-rated homes shine bright (and costly) in
Connecticut
Four
Connecticut metros have the
highest concentration of ENERGY STAR-rated* home listings currently
on the market, but most homebuyers will need to pay between 21 to
26 percent more than the median home price per square foot.
ENERGY STAR-rated homes make up four percent of current listings
in each of Connecticut's
Norwich-New London, Hartford, and New
Haven-Milford metro areas,
adding 26 percent, 21 percent and 24 percent more to the price per
square foot, respectively. ENERGY STAR-rated homes in the
Greensboro-High Point, N.C., metro, the fifth highest
concentration market at 1 percent of total listings, will cost
buyers 41 percent more per square foot.
Of the top five metros, the only one that does not require a
premium is the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro area, where ENERGY STAR-rated
homes account for slightly over 3 percent of active listings. While
the median home price is the most expensive of the top five metros
at $792,050, buyers can save
$37,050 on average for a ENERGY
STAR-rated home.
Top Markets with Green Amenities
Ranking of the top
200 largest U.S. metros with the highest percentage of active
listings featuring at least one of seven "green" amenities in
April 2018
Rank
|
U.S.
Metro
|
Percentage
of
"green"
homes
|
Metro median
price per
square foot
|
Feature median
price per square
foot
|
Price per
Square Foot %
Difference
|
1
|
Fort Collins,
Colo.
|
36%
|
$170.4
|
$171
|
0%
|
2
|
Dallas-Fort
Worth-
Arlington, Texas
|
35%e
|
$139.1
|
$144
|
4%
|
3
|
San Jose-Sunnyvale
-Santa
Clara, Calif.
|
35%
|
$738.9
|
$701
|
-5%
|
4
|
San Antonio-New
Braunfels, Texas
|
34%
|
$128.8
|
$130
|
1%
|
5
|
Tulsa,
Okla.
|
33%
|
$96.7
|
$115
|
19%
|
6
|
Boulder,
Colo.
|
25%
|
$257.7
|
$267
|
4%
|
7
|
Salinas,
Calif.
|
21%
|
$498.5
|
$429
|
-14%
|
8
|
Atlanta-Sandy Springs
-
Roswell, Ga.
|
20%
|
$121.5
|
$132
|
9%
|
9
|
McAllen-Edinburg-
Mission,
Texas
|
19%
|
$93.2
|
$107
|
15%
|
10
|
Santa Cruz-
Watsonville,
Calif.
|
17%
|
$565.7
|
$544
|
-4%
|
Top Markets: Solar
Ranking of the top 200 largest
U.S. metros with the highest percentage of active listings
featuring solar panels in April
2018
Rank
|
U.S.
Metro
|
Percentage
of "green"
homes
|
Metro median
price per square
foot
|
Feature median
price per square
foot
|
Price per
Square Foot %
Difference
|
1
|
San Jose-Sunnyvale
-Santa
Clara, Calif.
|
6.1%
|
$738.9
|
$623
|
-16%
|
2
|
Salinas,
Calif.
|
4.8%
|
$498.5
|
$373
|
-25%
|
3
|
Phoenix-Mesa-
Scottsdale,
Ariz.
|
4.6%
|
$166.7
|
$156
|
-6%
|
4
|
San Diego-Carlsbad,
Calif.
|
3.3%
|
$378
|
$368
|
-3%
|
5
|
Prescott,
Ariz.
|
2.7%
|
$188.7
|
$211
|
12%
|
6
|
Riverside-San
Bernardino-
Ontario, Calif.
|
2.5%
|
$203
|
$197
|
-3%
|
7
|
Los Angeles-Long
Beach-
Anaheim, Calif.
|
2.2%
|
$431.7
|
$394
|
-9%
|
8
|
Fresno,
Calif.
|
2.1%
|
$165.2
|
$168
|
2%
|
9
|
Visalia-Porterville,
Calif.
|
2.1%
|
$146.7
|
$147
|
0%
|
10
|
Oxnard-Thousand
Oaks-
Ventura, Calif.
|
1.9%
|
$373
|
$361
|
-3%
|
Top Markets: Programmable Thermostats
Ranking of
the top 200 largest U.S. metros with the highest percentage of
active listings featuring programmable thermostats in April 2018
Rank
|
U.S.
Metro
|
Percentage
of "green"
homes
|
Metro median
price per square
foot
|
Feature median
price per square
foot
|
Price per
Square Foot %
Difference
|
1
|
Tulsa,
Okla.
|
31.3%
|
$96.7
|
$113
|
17%
|
2
|
San Antonio-New
Braunfels,
Texas
|
28.4%
|
$128.8
|
$131
|
2%
|
3
|
Fort Collins,
Colo.
|
24.9%
|
$170.4
|
$171
|
0%
|
4
|
Atlanta-Sandy
Springs-
Roswell, Ga.
|
19.7%
|
$121.5
|
$132
|
9%
|
5
|
McAllen-Edinburg-
Mission,
Texas
|
17.9%
|
$93.2
|
$107
|
15%
|
6
|
Boulder,
Colo.
|
14.6%
|
$257.7
|
$248
|
-4%
|
7
|
Mcontgomery,
Ala.
|
13.3%
|
$89.1
|
$107
|
20%
|
8
|
Oklahoma City,
Okla.
|
11.8%
|
$114.7
|
$129
|
12%
|
9
|
Greeley,
Colo.
|
8.1%
|
$137.6
|
$136
|
-1%
|
10
|
Salinas,
Calif.
|
7.7%
|
$498.5
|
$490
|
-2%
|
Top Markets: Energy Star-Rated Homes
Ranking of the
top 200 largest U.S. metros with the highest percentage of active
listings featuring Energy Star-rated homes in April 2018
Rank
|
U.S.
Metro
|
Percentage
of
"green"
homes
|
Metro median
price per
square foot
|
Feature median
price per square
foot
|
Price per
Square Foot %
Difference
|
1
|
Norwich-New
London,
Conn.
|
3.9%
|
$158.4
|
$199
|
26%
|
2
|
Hartford-West
Hartford-
East Hartford, Conn.
|
3.9%
|
$152.4
|
$185
|
21%
|
3
|
New Haven-Milford,
Conn.
|
3.8%
|
$160.1
|
$198
|
24%
|
4
|
Bridgeport-Stamford-
Norwalk, Conn.
|
3.2%
|
$298.7
|
$279
|
-7%
|
5
|
Greensboro-High
Point, N.C.
|
1.2%
|
$102.6
|
$145
|
41%
|
Methodology
Realtor.com® looked at the
active home listings in April 2018 to
see which of the top 200 largest U.S. metro areas had the highest
share of homes that included "green" features. To qualify for the
list, the metro must have at least 30 listings that included the
"green" feature. The eco-friendly features included for analysis
are solar panels, bamboo flooring, smart thermostats, ENERGY
STAR-rated homes, Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER)
ventilation, dual pane windows and ENERGY STAR appliances.
* ENERGY STAR is a voluntary energy efficiency program managed
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE). New homes that earn the ENERGY STAR are
at least 15 percent more efficient than those built to code. For
more information: https://www.energystar.gov/about
About realtor.com®
Realtor.com®
is the trusted resource for home buyers, sellers and dreamers,
offering the most comprehensive source of for-sale properties,
among competing national sites, and the information, tools and
professional expertise to help people move confidently through
every step of their home journey. It pioneered the world of digital
real estate 20 years ago, and today helps make all things home
simple, efficient and enjoyable. Realtor.com® is
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subsidiary Move, Inc. under a perpetual license from the National
Association of REALTORS®. For more information, visit
realtor.com®.
Media Contact:
Realtor.com®
Tammy Lee –
tammy.lee@realtor.com
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SOURCE realtor.com