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.
The 1860s Darlinghurst mansion Stoneleigh could become Sydney’s most expensive home ever sold under the hammer when it goes to auction. Clint Ballard is giving buyers a $28 million guide for the heritage-listed mansion on Darley Street, opposite Iona, the former home of Hollywood royalty Baz Luhrmann. Stoneleigh is being offered for sale for the …
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A landmark Watsons Bay residence formerly owned by businessman Mark Bouris has returned to the market, bringing one of the harbourside village’s most distinctive homes back into play.
The five-bedroom property at 23 Robertson Place occupies 654 square metres opposite Robertson Park, within footsteps of Watsons Bay Beach, the ferry wharf and the celebrated restaurants lining the foreshore.
Its position places the home at the centre of one of Sydney’s most recognisable harbour villages, yet its substantial proportions, private outdoor areas and garaging give it a degree of separation rarely found so close to the waterfront.
The residence was previously owned by Bouris, the founder of Wizard Home Loans and chairman of Yellow Brick Road. Property records show it last changed hands in November 2013 for $7 million, having sold for $890,000 in 1995.
That 2013 transaction was handled by prestige agent Bill Malouf through Highland Double Bay. Bouris was the vendor when the home last sold.
Architect Malcolm Sholl designed the contemporary residence around a fluid connection between its interiors and outdoor entertaining areas. Extensive glazing draws natural light into the principal rooms, while district views take in the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Travertine flooring extends through the principal living areas and out towards the terraces, reinforcing the relationship between the home and its coastal setting.
At the centre of the residence is a marble kitchen equipped with Gaggenau gas appliances and an integrated Miele coffee machine. It connects to expansive open-plan living and dining areas designed for both family life and large-scale entertaining.
Five double bedrooms are accompanied by three bathrooms and a guest powder room. Informal living spaces include a home cinema.
Outside, there’s a 23-metre lap pool and an alfresco entertainer’s terrace. Internal access from the garage and accommodation for four cars are especially valuable in the tightly held village location.
The address also carries an unusual fragment of local architectural history. Woollahra planning material identifies portions of an early Victorian cottage dating from about 1839 within the contemporary three-storey residence, placing the property within the wider Watsons Bay heritage conservation area.
The home made headlines for another reason in January 2025, when a Ferrari left the road and struck the property. Two occupants of the vehicle were taken to hospital following the incident.
The Agency’s Ben Collier has a $20 million guide.
Watsons Bay remains one of Sydney’s smallest and most tightly held prestige markets. There have only been two house sales in the suburb so far in 2026. The suburb record was set late last year when yachtie Linda Goddard paid $35.5 million for a Pacific Street waterfront.
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