The Australian regions outperforming the capitals for energy efficient housing
An unlikely Australian region is leading the energy efficiency charge for residential construction, while one major capital lags behind
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New Australian homes are far more energy efficient than those built previously, a new report from CoreLogic has shown. The report, Amped Up: How energy efficient are Australian
Homes?’ has taken data from CoreLogic and checked it against metrics generated by the CSIRO’s RapidRate™ product to reveal that houses built after 2010 achieved a media star rating of 5.9 out of a possible 10. This compares with a median rating of 2.8 stars for homes built prior to 2010.
The most energy efficient region overall was the ACT, with a median star rating of 6.1. Within the ACT, the region of Molonglo had the highest rating. Positioned halfway between Yarralumla and Stromlo Observatory, Molonglo is the newest district in the ACT and is still under development. It is the only region nationally with a star rating of 6 or above for all dwellings.
The ACT dominated the top 30 list of most energy efficient suburbs. In contrast, Sydney and Hobart were notably absent from the top 30 list, although the report noted that there was a high level of variation across both cities. Sydney and Hobart are also the oldest cities in the country, with some housing stock dating back to the early 19th century. The report noted that demand for heating was also strongest in Hobart, which also had the lowest dwelling completion to population ratio. Heritage restrictions were also identified as a factor.
At a micro level, the Sydney suburbs of Blacktown-North and Bringelly-Green Valley recorded the highest ratings for NSW, with a median of 5.2 stars. In Victoria, the Surf Coast-Bellarine peninsula performed well, with the suburbs of Armstrong Creek, Curlewis and Mount Duneed all showing a median rating of 6 stars or higher.
Given Australian housing accounts for 24 percent of electricity use and 10 percent of carbon emissions, CoreLogic’s Head of Banking & Finance Solutions Tom Coad said it was vital that standards set in the National Construction Code were adhered to.
“The significant difference in energy efficiency between relatively modern homes and older homes can largely be attributed to changes in the National Construction Code
which has progressively placed more emphasis on energy efficiency requirements for newly built homes,” Mr Coad said.
“The Coalition’s recent push to pause the National Construction Code for 10 years flies in the face of Australia’s commitments to reduce carbon emissions.”
“Policymakers should be incentivising the construction of energy efficient buildings, not slamming the breaks.”
The report was compiled using the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) star rating system. Research director at CoreLogic, Tim Lawless, said it was important to continue to monitor the energy efficiency of housing construction.
“What gets measured gets done,” he said. “As standards for energy efficient design and construction rise, it’s also becoming more important to measure energy resilience in
our housing stock.
“Minimum energy efficiency standards for new builds will continue to be important in supporting Australia’s greenhouse gas reduction targets, but there is likely to be
increasing focus and incentives on established housing where most of Australia’s housing stock was built prior to recent minimum standards.”
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The typically busy spring season for the housing market was a dud, and the summer isn’t looking much brighter.
Housing services companies like Zillow Group and Rocket RKT +3.78% were loud and clear last week on earnings calls: Rocket CEO Varun Krishna called the quarter through June “one of the toughest spring housing markets in years.”
Jeremy Hofmann, Zillow’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call that the company predicted earlier this year that the market for mortgages would be flat. “We actually now think it’s going to be down low-to-mid-single digits,” he said.
The rest of 2026 will remain challenging for mortgage origination volume, says KBW analyst Bose George. The question now is what happens in 2027. “If mortgage rates remain [around] 6.75%, I think that’s going to be challenging even for next year,” he says.
But what’s bad news for mortgage companies could be a positive for bargain hunters. Buyers can expect prices to grow more slowly—or mildly decline—with less competition as long as mortgage rates remain unpredictable.
Mortgage rates at the beginning of the year were solidly below year-ago levels, notes Zillow senior economist Kara Ng. But they surpassed last year’s levels recently, she adds, referencing Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of 30-year fixed mortgage rates. Last week’s reading, at 6.69%, was higher than year-ago levels for the first time in 2026.
“From the affordability point of view, it’s going to get more challenging in the second half of the year,” she says. “And when affordability gets more challenging, that impacts sales and home price appreciation.”
Mortgage application data tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association has cooled since the beginning of the year. The trade group expects that the number of mortgage originations in the remaining two quarters will lag behind last year’s levels, after exceeding 2025 levels in the first half.
Rocket’s early-stage data—which the company told Barron’s it derives from its brokerage Redfin, demand for its mortgage products, and signs in its servicing portfolio that a homeowner is preparing to refinance or move—“leads us to expect the third quarter mortgage market to be smaller than the second,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Brown, said on the company’s call. He added that such an occurrence is “something the industry has not seen since 2022.”
Prices will be about flat nationally, Ng says. Zillow’s most recent forecast, which shows how values are expected to change in the year ending June 2027, show them dropping in roughly half of the 100 largest U.S. metros for which data is available.
Buyers aren’t rushing in at a time when mortgage costs are rising and unpredictable. But those with the right combination of patience and cash could stand to benefit. “If you are financially qualified to buy a starter home, you are facing less competition and you’re more likely to get a price cut,” Ng says.
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