Dodge Data & Analytics just released a report on “Green and Healthier Homes” in which it was revealed that many builders are seeing building green as a way to increase business and new home sales. In fact, according to the report, 83 percent of homebuilders and remodelers believe consumers are willing to pay more for a healthier home. This shows quite a change over the past decade as around 2005 I was developing quite a few residential properties and looked into the idea of adding some “green” features to some developments. This led me to Denver to tour many green loft projects and to return to St Louis all fired up on going green on a loft development I was planning. The problem is, as I dug into it and began researching the market and getting feedback on pricing, I found that while a high percentage of buyers said they would like to have the features, almost no one, said they were willing to pay anything extra to get it, much less the 5% or so we were projecting it would cost. Changing times I guess…
Highlights from the report:
- Nearly one third of home builders (31%) report that they are currently doing more than 60% of their projects green, and over half (51%) expect to be doing that level of green work by 2020.
- Over three quarters (77%) of builders report that building green costs 5% or more than the cost to build a standard home, and an even high percentage of remodelers (83%) agree.
