News and Insights

Here are 11 good green reads from 2019 that you may have missed. 

1.    ‘Hipsturbia’: It’s What All the Cool. Suburbs Are Doing and It’s A 2020 Trend Suburban downtowns get revived using a live/work/play formula that transforms them into “hipsturbia.” Appealing to Millennials, hipsturbias include affordability and urban staples like dining, shopping, entertainment and jobs, all within a walkable distance. 

A new Freddie Mac study, “Energy Efficiency: Value Added to Properties and Loan Performance,” provides more evidence that energy efficiency features can boost home values. 

The study used a national random sample to examine energy efficient homes rated between 2013 and 2017. It looked at 70,000 HERS-rated homes and 6,500 homes with the DOE’s Home Energy Score. Freddie Mac also gathered data from a major credit bureau to, understand the value and the loan performance associated with energy-efficient homes to support the consideration of energy efficiency in mortgage underwriting practices.” 

Read through some posts on NAR's Green Designation Networking Community and you’ll see that GRC members are still facing appraisal challenges. Those include difficulty finding competent appraisers and homes’ energy efficiency features getting overlooked or undervalued. 

Here are some ways to be sure that your energy efficient and green listings receive a proper appraisal. 

Like so many industries, the real estate industry is facing its share of disruption. Among the sources are technology, new brokerage models, non-real estate companies trying to encroach on our market share, and the scads of available home data that put greater power in the hands of consumers. 

But one of the biggest disrupters, climate change, has the potential to reshape entire communities. It’s a topic that deserves our attention. 

It’s renewal time, and whether you’ve been a longtime GRC member or you’re new to the GRC, we have the tools, education, and networking opportunities that you need to keep building your green niche.
 
Even better, the GRC experienced a spike in membership, adding more than 600 new GREEN Designees during 2019. That means there are more people working to move the needle forward on green housing.