While you can do many things to increase the value of your home, nothing beats making the property energy-efficient. According to the Domain Sustainability in Property Report 2022, homes with solar panels and other energy-saving features could fetch $125,000 more on average.
If you were looking for more reasons to install solar panels and switch to an environment-friendly energy source, the significant upsurge in property value is surely a considerable impetus.
What Does the Report Say About Increasing Value of Home with EE?
The energy costs have reached unprecedented levels in Australia and many other parts of the world. Combined with growing awareness about global warming, energy-efficient or EE homes are no longer an option but a necessity. And Australians are ready to pay a premium price for such homes.
As can be seen in the table below, EE homes in Australia sell for a premium of above 17% on average.
| Houses | Units | |||
| Year | $ Difference | % Difference | $ Difference | % Difference |
| 2022 | $125,000 | 17.1% | $72,750 | 12.7% |
| 2021 | $115,000 | 18.0% | $81,000 | 15.6% |
| 2020 | $85,000 | 15.6% | $81,000 | 16.8% |
| 2019 | $78,625 | 15.3% | $60,000 | 13.3% |
While the national average stands at 17.1% in 2022, the premiums are significantly higher in some states. For instance, in Queensland, the premium for EE homes increases to 28.9%, and in Victoria, it is 24%.
Aren’t EE Houses More Difficult to Sell?
A question commonly asked is- Wouldn’t the higher selling prices of these homes make them difficult to sell? No, it is actually the opposite.
The same report also suggests that homes with solar and other EE features sell faster and are more commonly searched and viewed online. In fact, more than 50% of the property listings in almost all the states and territories in Australia had energy-efficient keywords in them.
Even the number of EE homes on the market between May 2021 and May 2022 has sharply risen to 101,383 properties from around 80,000 in the preceding year.
The growth is even higher for homes with battery storage. From 1,819 properties in 2020, the number has increased to 3,366 in 2022. Off-grid properties available for sale in 2020 stood at 809. In 2022, such listings surpassed 1,360. According to Nicola Powell, chief of economics and research at Domain, another important reason for the premium is the fact that EE homes are generally newly-built properties.
Go Solar Today
A premium of 17% on average is definitely an excellent motivation for homeowners in Australia to consider installing solar panels. If you’re concerned about the high cost of purchase and installation, there is an easy solution for that as well. And you can increase the value of your home with this easy solution that you can afford without breaking your bank.
For starters, solar panels are no longer as expensive as they used to be. Moreover, under SRES, installing a small-scale renewable energy system makes you eligible for a benefit from the government.
Last but not least, SunEnery, a leading solar products provider in Australia, has launched the ‘Pay As You Save (PAYS)’ scheme wherein you can pay for the system from your energy savings. With a $0 deposit and low fortnightly payments, the PAYS scheme is a seamless solution to switch to solar, generate free electricity, and increase the selling price of your property.
