Still not sure if there's a real market for green (or high performance) homes, or that they have a real value premium? We just did a quick analysis of new construction listings in the Triangle MLS.
The take-away? In 2010, certified homes (indicated in the MLS as ENERGY STAR, LEED-H, NC HealthyBuilt, and/or NGBS GreenBuilt) sold for over 10% more per square foot and in nearly 1/3 less time. There's GREEN in Green!
Here are our findings for new construction home sales that closed in 2010. Comparing certified homes to non-certified properties, both sold at about 98% of their listing price, with similar square footage. Average figures for the past year:
NEW CONSTRUCTION
CLOSED IN 2010
Avg
Sq Ft
SP/SF
DOM
Certified (N=922; 22.5%)
2653
$121.09
97
Non-Certified (N=3178; 77.5%)
2573
$107.27
139
DIFFERENCE
80
$ 13.82
-42
% DIFFERENCE
Note that we also are seeing the market penetration of high-performance homes steadily increasing. For listings in early 2011, over 30% of the new construction now has at least one certification listed! That's up from less than 20% in 2009.
Many thanks to everyone who has been "Greening the MLS"; we now have some data to work with, not just anecdotal evidence.