More Queensland property buyers are looking for energy-efficient homes

News Corp Australia Network

Karen Derow, PropTrack Analyst.

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Energy efficiency is more important than ever when looking to buy, rent or build a home, according to the latest data from realestate.com.au.

September 2023 Home Audience Pulse Survey found that 68% of consumers say energy efficiency ratings are important when searching for a home, with one-third (34%) of respondents saying it is very important I answered that it is. This is an increase of 6% compared to last year.

The main reason for the increased importance of energy efficiency ratings was to save money on bills.

Continuing cost-of-living pressures over the past 18 months have placed additional stress on buyers and renters, motivating them to find additional ways to cut spending.

Three-quarters (73%) of respondents cited lower energy bills as the main reason why they value energy efficiency, and half (51%) also wanted to do something good for the environment.

A search for energy efficiency features on realestate.com.au revealed that solar panels were the most sought after, accounting for 77% of all energy efficiency related searches.

In all states except the Australian Capital Territory, solar panels were the most searched energy efficient option. In the Australian Capital Territory, energy efficiency was simply what property seekers were looking for most.

It's no wonder that the sunny state of Queensland has the highest number of searches (48%) for properties with solar panels.

Queenslanders were more interested in water storage tanks than searchers in other states, and were also interested in 'off-grid' properties.

“Off-grid” homes are completely disconnected from the energy grid and rely solely on solar power and battery-stored energy. Almost 30% of 'off-grid' searches were from Queensland.

Queenslanders were also the most searched for properties with batteries that can store unused energy generated from solar panels.

Whether it's to save money or reduce their impact on the environment, more property seekers are taking home energy efficiency seriously and are looking for homes with high energy efficiency ratings.
Features such as solar panels and glass windows remain important, as do new technologies such as electric vehicle chargers and batteries that store excess energy.