Greening the property market: why more vendors advertised sustainable features in 2023
The states and the suburbs with the highest number of environmentally friendly properties for sale are not where you think
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Just under 15 percent of homes for sale in FY23 were ‘green listings’, new research reveals.
Green listings, which are defined as having at least one environmentally-friendly feature providing energy or water savings, such as solar panels, a home battery and rainwater tanks made up 101,479 of the 687,874 homes that went onto the market in FY23, Australia’s largest real estate network, Ray White, reports.
Queensland had the highest proportion of green listings overall in FY23 at 20.3 percent. This compares to 19.6 percent in the Northern Territory, 19.5 percent in South Australia, 16.1 percent in the ACT, 15.7 percent in Western Australia, 11.6 percent in Tasmania and 11.4 percent in both New South Wales and Victoria. The number of green listings advertised has been growing over the past three years as homeowners think more about their carbon footprint and embrace sustainability. The number of listings with one or two green features has risen from 17.2 percent of listings in 2020 to 19.5 percent in 2023, according to Ray White.
Skyrocketing electricity prices and the availability of government incentives to encourage homeowners to invest in eco-friendly features are no doubt contributing to higher interest in green homes. A growing uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) is also leading to more homeowners installing EV chargers in their garages. The Electric Vehicles Council of Australia reports that the number of sales of EVs in the first half of 2023 exceeded the total number sold in 2022.
Buyers’ interest in green features is prompting more agents to include such details in the advertising copy for homes for sale, said Ray White data analyst, William Clark. “Over the last three years, there has been an increasing proportion of listings with ‘solar panels’, ‘battery’ or ‘off-grid’ appearing in advertising copy,” he said. “This is not an exhaustive list of ways a house can be green, however solar panels were the most frequently advertised, while batteries and being off-grid make a house green to the greatest degree.”
In New South Wales and Victoria, the suburbs with the highest percentage of green listings were all in regional areas. In other states and territories, there was a broader mix across regional and capital city suburbs. Clark said green properties were more commonly houses on large blocks of land. “With regional areas having a higher proportion of houses rather than units, single-family dwellings may retrofit green features such as solar panels and battery packs quicker and more autonomously than units and complexes with large strata groups. This means states, cities and suburbs with more houses and fewer units will see a higher proportion of green listings.”
Here are the suburbs with the highest percentage of green listings advertised in FY23.
Top suburbs for green listings
Source: Ray White, suburbs with at least 10 listings advertised in FY23
The greening of Australian homes is being helped along by regulation, with a new law in Victoria banning gas connections in newly built properties coming into effect yesterday. The ACT was the first state or territory to introduce such a law, which came into effect there in December.
This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan
Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.
2 min
Former Aussie Rules player Jeff Chapman’s dream beach house, which has had its praises sung by The Independent in the UK, is back on the market with a revised – and more competitive – price guide.
The contemporary pavilion-style residence Alinghi, created by celebrated architect James Grose, was voted one of the top five beach houses in the world by the British newspaper and has been operating as a luxury holiday rental earning up to $7000 a week.
The one-time Melbourne forward and founder of Bennelong Funds Management, and his wife Carena Shankar, listed the five-bedroom getaway back in mid 2024 with hopes of about $8 million. The prestige property is now back with new agent Pauline Karatau of Ray White New Farm and the amended guide now sits at $6.5 million.
As part of the private 5ha Rocky Point estate, at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef overlooking Honeymoon Bay, the glamorous holiday home shares not only a private beach with just four other neighbours, but also a 30m saltwater pool, a full-size tennis court, a beach cabana with barbecue facilities and a full-time live-in caretaker on site.
Alinghi seemingly floats against the cliffs of North Queensland’s Capricorn Coast consisting of two pavilions and shallow reflections pools for ultimate serenity. Residence number 5 is home to a two-storey main pavilion with large living spaces spilling onto semi-enclosed areas framing enviable ocean views. Upstairs there are four bedrooms, including two with ensuites. The second pavilion is a private retreat housing the main bedroom suite with an additional study or wellness space.
Crafted by Grose to leave minimal impact on its natural environment, the house features external materials sourced locally including rich cedar, plus glass and Travertine stone specifically chosen to blend and weather with the landscape over time.
The low maintenance property is also relatively self sufficient thanks to water tanks collecting the region’s abundant rainfall. Despite it’s northern Queensland address air-conditioning is an after-thought due to the clever cross-ventilation design principles and deliberate orientation capturing ocean breezes that flow through the large footprint.
Alinghi’s external lightning has also been carefully designed to be low voltage with minimum impact upon the local wildlife including wallabies, echidnas, goannas, turtles and even a diverse range of native birds. From the private terraces throughout winter, homeowners can also track the migratory whales.
Alinghi is a 90-minute drive away from Agnes Waters and its sister town of 1770 (also known as Seventeen Seventy). It is approximately 120kms from Bundaberg, which is home to a well-serviced domestic airport.
Alinghi is listed for sale with a price guide of $6.5 million via Ray White New Farm agent Pauline Karatau on 0418 733 773.
This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan
Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.
