LESS than a quarter of new home buyers are aware of green subdivisions and another third have heard of the term, but have no idea what it means, according to the Sustainable New Home survey by Connection research.
Connection Research surveyed over 7,000 households around
In addition, less than a quarter of new home buyers want to live in a new subdivision. Most prefer houses in established areas.
And less than one in five regard green subdivisions as important factor in choosing where they might live.
Connection Research’s research director Graeme Philipson said this is the largest study ever undertaken in
Philipson said the finding about the lack of awareness of green subdivisions shows up one of the key contradictions in Australians’ home buying patterns.
“People want to be green. They express a strong abstract desire to live sustainable lives. But when it comes to the practicalities, and paying for them, these desires are not always translated into action,” he added.
Respondents planning to buy or build a new home – nearly 20% of the total – were also asked a series of further questions, including the importance of these various technologies and how much they would be prepared to pay for them.
A large numbers of respondents said they are willing to spend $5000, $10,000 or even more to add certain features to their new home. The most favoured features are solar water heating, rain water tanks, better insulation, higher quality building materials and solar electricity.
Meanwhile, around 60% of respondents have no interest in home automation technologies indicating that more needs to be done to highlight the energy monitoring and saving capabilities of a true home automation system.
“By asking people about a whole range of technologies, we are able to determine their relative importance. Everybody would like a nice big house with all the bells and whistles, but the survey tells us just what is most important, and to which group of people.
“For example, wealthier households are much more likely to want home automation – but only a little more likely to want water tanks. A dedicated room for a home cinema is not a big attraction to most new home buyers, even those with children,” he added.
“And we see that 20% of people are willing to pay more than $5000 for a home security system – and that males are far more security conscious than females,” Philipson said.
Finally, new home buyers are logging on the internet to find more information on any home-related subjects, followed by newspapers and magazines, and then radio and television.
Australian Property Journal
