Tag Archives: Green Homes

A majority (63%) of agents and brokers said promoting energy efficiency in listings is a valuable tactic to sell a home.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both offer special mortgages for green homes; federal and state programs also promote weatherization initiatives through grants for certain projects.

As National Homeownership Month kicks off, the NAHB is taking a look at the features today's young homebuyers want most.

While more than 90 percent of homes purchased in 2011 were existing homes, more than half of homebuyers declared a preference for new homes, according to the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Characteristics of Home Buyers, an analysis of the 2011 American Housing Survey conducted by the Census Bureau. Along with their preference for new homes, survey respondents expressed a desire for energy-efficient homes. According to NAHB, these two qualities go hand-in-hand.

As the economy flounders, Americans think community planners should play a large role in helping the country recover, according to a poll released Thursday by the American Planning Association. The research study showed that two-thirds of Americans believe their communities need more planning to promote economic recovery, and 44 percent said they don't believe their community is doing enough to promote recovery. Fifty-one percent of respondents expressed an interest in participating in community planning efforts.

The residential construction market could tilt toward green homes if today's preferences persist, with one recent study estimating that energy-efficient residences could account for anywhere from 29 percent to 38 percent of the playing field by 2016. Unveiling the report at a homebuilders' conference Tuesday, McGraw-Hill Construction estimated that green homes amounted to 17 percent of the construction market last year. The study said that green homes could represent anywhere from $87 billion to $114 billion in gains to be had by the construction industry.