Latest news with #NicolaPowell
ABC News
5 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
House prices are being pumped up by solar and batteries, according to Domain
Skip to main content Chief of research and economics at Domain, Nicola Powell says energy efficient housing is no longer a climate issue, but a financial must-have, adding value to homes.
ABC News
5 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Demand for energy efficient houses growing across Australia, Domain report finds
Energy efficient houses are a "must-have" for a growing number of buyers, commanding a premium price in markets across the country, property experts say. The demand is reflected in real estate advertising with half the homes currently for sale touting some sort of energy efficient feature, according to a new report from the property website Domain. North-facing homes, double-glazed windows and solar panels are all attractive features that offer year-round comfort as well as smaller energy bills, the report says. Domain's chief of research Nicola Powell said much of that demand is being pushed by "middle Australia", especially with energy prices set to rise for half a million homes and businesses across from July. "It does appear that middle Australia is really driving the uptake and driving the price premiums for a more energy efficient home," Dr Powell said. At a house inspection in Brisbane's south, real estate agent James Austin said buyers had been asking about energy efficiency more and more, particularly for new builds. He said solar panels, solar hot water and energy efficient lighting were commonly asked about. "I know the price of housing is very high, but maybe if you spend a bit more at the start you can save in the long run if the house is energy efficient," he said. In Brisbane energy efficient homes on the market are attracting almost 20 per cent more views online, according to the report. Dr Powell said for prospective buyers anything that could reduce costs in the long-term was becoming more of a priority. In Queensland suburbs, including Calamvale in Brisbane's south and Robina on the Gold Coast, houses are selling for up to $300,000 more than non-efficient homes, according to the report. It said energy efficient units sold for almost 10 per cent more than non-efficient units. North-facing homes — which provide passive heating in winter and reduced cooling needs in summer — boost the price of a house by $375,000 on average across the country, the report said. Solar panels continue to be the most popular energy efficient feature, but don't add as much value. Other features such as roof and ceiling insulation can cut heating and cooling needs by up to 45 per cent. Homes chew up about a quarter of the country's electricity, with disproportionate share taken by homes with "poor thermal performance", that overheat in summer and lose warmth in winter. Dr Powell said the challenge of retrofitting Australia's existing housing stock — 70 per cent of which was built before 2003 — is also an opportunity for policymakers. "If you're thinking about putting in double-glazing or solar panels, it does come at a hefty cost. Having the right policies in place to drive that uptake and ensuring our older housing stock are just as efficient will be a step in the right direction," she said. Experts warn renters and low-income households risk being left behind unless more incentives to bring older homes up to modern standards are brought in. Green Building Council of Australia chief executive Davina Rooney said it's important that renters are included. She urged for more schemes like the Queensland plan to offer grants to landlords for solar panels. "We need to make these things more common and drive them across every part of the market," Ms Rooney said. In the ACT all residential property sales and rental advertisements are required to disclose their energy efficiency rating. Expanding that scheme nationwide would be a step in the right direction, Dr Powell said. "That really drives transparency and allows a renter to actually see the potential energy efficiency of that home and therefore the potential running costs."
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
How to sell your house for $118,000 more than your neighbour
Houses advertised with sustainable features typically sell for six figures more than their non-sustainable counterparts, as buyer demand for these homes increases. In the three months to April 2025, houses sold for 14.5 per cent ($118,000) more if they were advertised with keywords such as 'sustainable', 'energy-efficient', 'double-glazed', 'eco', 'north-facing' or 'solar', Domain's Sustainability in Property Report, released on Thursday, shows. The study, which compared the median sales prices of properties advertised with and without sustainable features, found that gap was $80,000 in 2020 – the first year of the data – and hit $125,250 in 2022 when prices peaked due to rock-bottom interest rates. Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell noted that the price premium narrowed when the overall market began cooling two years ago, but never disappeared. 'Energy efficiency clearly commands a premium, and that premium over time has proved remarkably resilient,' she said. Loading 'We're seeing more homes having energy-efficient features within their listings ... there's definitely more choice for buyers.' She said the rising cost of living was a key factor in the demand for homes with lower energy bills. She acknowledged homes with these features are often newer, and therefore more attractive than their counterparts. Many are located in outer-suburban greenfield areas where adding energy-efficiency features to new builds can be easier than retrofitting established houses.
The Age
5 days ago
- Business
- The Age
How to sell your house for $118,000 more than your neighbour
Houses advertised with sustainable features typically sell for six figures more than their non-sustainable counterparts, as buyer demand for these homes increases. In the three months to April 2025, houses sold for 14.5 per cent ($118,000) more if they were advertised with keywords such as 'sustainable', 'energy-efficient', 'double-glazed', 'eco', 'north-facing' or 'solar', Domain's Sustainability in Property Report, released on Thursday, shows. The study, which compared the median sales prices of properties advertised with and without sustainable features, found that gap was $80,000 in 2020 – the first year of the data – and hit $125,250 in 2022 when prices peaked due to rock-bottom interest rates. Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell noted that the price premium narrowed when the overall market began cooling two years ago, but never disappeared. 'Energy efficiency clearly commands a premium, and that premium over time has proved remarkably resilient,' she said. Loading 'We're seeing more homes having energy-efficient features within their listings ... there's definitely more choice for buyers.' She said the rising cost of living was a key factor in the demand for homes with lower energy bills. She acknowledged homes with these features are often newer, and therefore more attractive than their counterparts. Many are located in outer-suburban greenfield areas where adding energy-efficiency features to new builds can be easier than retrofitting established houses.
The Advertiser
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
'A given': rate cut to bring mortgage relief
Home owners can expect more mortgage relief if the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates as widely expected but those looking to break into the housing market could see property prices rise even higher. Traders are pricing in a 95 per cent chance the RBA board will cut its key interest rate to 3.85 per cent when its two-day meeting wraps up on Tuesday. Nicola Powell, chief economist at property portal Domain, said it's pretty much a given. Underlying inflation moderated to 2.9 per cent in the first three months of the year, which will reassure the RBA that they can take some restrictiveness out of the economy. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's tariffs bolster the case for a cut to support the economy amid an anticipated global slowdown. "Obviously, it's going to be at the forefront of their mind, the impacts that that is going to have on the domestic economy," Dr Powell told AAP. "When you look at trimmed mean inflation, it's now within their (target) band (of two to three per cent). And we know that the RBA likes to really be guided by that trimmed mean inflation." Most economists agree that the central bank will cut rates by 25 basis points. That would result in the median mortgage-holder with a $600,000 debt having to pay about $90 less per month in interest repayments, assuming the banks pass it on in full. Dr Powell said she would be surprised if they didn't, given competition among the banks for customer retention and acquisition of new loans was high. NAB remains an outlier in calling for a 50 basis point cut, although the likelihood of that happening now has diminished following an easing in trade tensions between the US and China and strong domestic labour market data, NAB's head of FX strategy Ray Attrill concedes. "We're still very convicted in the view that the case for policy remaining restrictive has fast disappeared, it's in the rear view mirror as far we're concerned," he told NAB's Morning Call podcast. "Therefore, to get rates down to something closer to neutral will require the best part of 100 basis points of cuts." If the RBA does slash rates by 100 basis points - or 75 as the market is predicting - by year's end, house prices are likely to surge. Increased borrowing capacity for home buyers will cause demand to rise, and with the provision of new supply still hampered by high construction costs and planning bottlenecks, prices will follow, Dr Powell said. Even before the cut is passed through to buyers, higher confidence already shows up in stronger demand. "In the lead up to the first rate cut that occurred in February, we were already starting to see an improvement in sentiment coming from inquiry data," Dr Powell said. And that is likely to flow through quicker in the more expensive capital city markets like Sydney and Melbourne, which are more sensitive to changes in interest rates, she said. A model developed at the Reserve Bank by economists Trent Saunders and Peter Tulip, now at the Centre for Independent Studies, found interest rates falling one percentage point lifts home prices six per cent higher in the first year than they otherwise would've been. Home owners can expect more mortgage relief if the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates as widely expected but those looking to break into the housing market could see property prices rise even higher. Traders are pricing in a 95 per cent chance the RBA board will cut its key interest rate to 3.85 per cent when its two-day meeting wraps up on Tuesday. Nicola Powell, chief economist at property portal Domain, said it's pretty much a given. Underlying inflation moderated to 2.9 per cent in the first three months of the year, which will reassure the RBA that they can take some restrictiveness out of the economy. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's tariffs bolster the case for a cut to support the economy amid an anticipated global slowdown. "Obviously, it's going to be at the forefront of their mind, the impacts that that is going to have on the domestic economy," Dr Powell told AAP. "When you look at trimmed mean inflation, it's now within their (target) band (of two to three per cent). And we know that the RBA likes to really be guided by that trimmed mean inflation." Most economists agree that the central bank will cut rates by 25 basis points. That would result in the median mortgage-holder with a $600,000 debt having to pay about $90 less per month in interest repayments, assuming the banks pass it on in full. Dr Powell said she would be surprised if they didn't, given competition among the banks for customer retention and acquisition of new loans was high. NAB remains an outlier in calling for a 50 basis point cut, although the likelihood of that happening now has diminished following an easing in trade tensions between the US and China and strong domestic labour market data, NAB's head of FX strategy Ray Attrill concedes. "We're still very convicted in the view that the case for policy remaining restrictive has fast disappeared, it's in the rear view mirror as far we're concerned," he told NAB's Morning Call podcast. "Therefore, to get rates down to something closer to neutral will require the best part of 100 basis points of cuts." If the RBA does slash rates by 100 basis points - or 75 as the market is predicting - by year's end, house prices are likely to surge. Increased borrowing capacity for home buyers will cause demand to rise, and with the provision of new supply still hampered by high construction costs and planning bottlenecks, prices will follow, Dr Powell said. Even before the cut is passed through to buyers, higher confidence already shows up in stronger demand. "In the lead up to the first rate cut that occurred in February, we were already starting to see an improvement in sentiment coming from inquiry data," Dr Powell said. And that is likely to flow through quicker in the more expensive capital city markets like Sydney and Melbourne, which are more sensitive to changes in interest rates, she said. A model developed at the Reserve Bank by economists Trent Saunders and Peter Tulip, now at the Centre for Independent Studies, found interest rates falling one percentage point lifts home prices six per cent higher in the first year than they otherwise would've been. Home owners can expect more mortgage relief if the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates as widely expected but those looking to break into the housing market could see property prices rise even higher. Traders are pricing in a 95 per cent chance the RBA board will cut its key interest rate to 3.85 per cent when its two-day meeting wraps up on Tuesday. Nicola Powell, chief economist at property portal Domain, said it's pretty much a given. Underlying inflation moderated to 2.9 per cent in the first three months of the year, which will reassure the RBA that they can take some restrictiveness out of the economy. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's tariffs bolster the case for a cut to support the economy amid an anticipated global slowdown. "Obviously, it's going to be at the forefront of their mind, the impacts that that is going to have on the domestic economy," Dr Powell told AAP. "When you look at trimmed mean inflation, it's now within their (target) band (of two to three per cent). And we know that the RBA likes to really be guided by that trimmed mean inflation." Most economists agree that the central bank will cut rates by 25 basis points. That would result in the median mortgage-holder with a $600,000 debt having to pay about $90 less per month in interest repayments, assuming the banks pass it on in full. Dr Powell said she would be surprised if they didn't, given competition among the banks for customer retention and acquisition of new loans was high. NAB remains an outlier in calling for a 50 basis point cut, although the likelihood of that happening now has diminished following an easing in trade tensions between the US and China and strong domestic labour market data, NAB's head of FX strategy Ray Attrill concedes. "We're still very convicted in the view that the case for policy remaining restrictive has fast disappeared, it's in the rear view mirror as far we're concerned," he told NAB's Morning Call podcast. "Therefore, to get rates down to something closer to neutral will require the best part of 100 basis points of cuts." If the RBA does slash rates by 100 basis points - or 75 as the market is predicting - by year's end, house prices are likely to surge. Increased borrowing capacity for home buyers will cause demand to rise, and with the provision of new supply still hampered by high construction costs and planning bottlenecks, prices will follow, Dr Powell said. Even before the cut is passed through to buyers, higher confidence already shows up in stronger demand. "In the lead up to the first rate cut that occurred in February, we were already starting to see an improvement in sentiment coming from inquiry data," Dr Powell said. And that is likely to flow through quicker in the more expensive capital city markets like Sydney and Melbourne, which are more sensitive to changes in interest rates, she said. A model developed at the Reserve Bank by economists Trent Saunders and Peter Tulip, now at the Centre for Independent Studies, found interest rates falling one percentage point lifts home prices six per cent higher in the first year than they otherwise would've been. Home owners can expect more mortgage relief if the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates as widely expected but those looking to break into the housing market could see property prices rise even higher. Traders are pricing in a 95 per cent chance the RBA board will cut its key interest rate to 3.85 per cent when its two-day meeting wraps up on Tuesday. Nicola Powell, chief economist at property portal Domain, said it's pretty much a given. Underlying inflation moderated to 2.9 per cent in the first three months of the year, which will reassure the RBA that they can take some restrictiveness out of the economy. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's tariffs bolster the case for a cut to support the economy amid an anticipated global slowdown. "Obviously, it's going to be at the forefront of their mind, the impacts that that is going to have on the domestic economy," Dr Powell told AAP. "When you look at trimmed mean inflation, it's now within their (target) band (of two to three per cent). And we know that the RBA likes to really be guided by that trimmed mean inflation." Most economists agree that the central bank will cut rates by 25 basis points. That would result in the median mortgage-holder with a $600,000 debt having to pay about $90 less per month in interest repayments, assuming the banks pass it on in full. Dr Powell said she would be surprised if they didn't, given competition among the banks for customer retention and acquisition of new loans was high. NAB remains an outlier in calling for a 50 basis point cut, although the likelihood of that happening now has diminished following an easing in trade tensions between the US and China and strong domestic labour market data, NAB's head of FX strategy Ray Attrill concedes. "We're still very convicted in the view that the case for policy remaining restrictive has fast disappeared, it's in the rear view mirror as far we're concerned," he told NAB's Morning Call podcast. "Therefore, to get rates down to something closer to neutral will require the best part of 100 basis points of cuts." If the RBA does slash rates by 100 basis points - or 75 as the market is predicting - by year's end, house prices are likely to surge. Increased borrowing capacity for home buyers will cause demand to rise, and with the provision of new supply still hampered by high construction costs and planning bottlenecks, prices will follow, Dr Powell said. Even before the cut is passed through to buyers, higher confidence already shows up in stronger demand. "In the lead up to the first rate cut that occurred in February, we were already starting to see an improvement in sentiment coming from inquiry data," Dr Powell said. And that is likely to flow through quicker in the more expensive capital city markets like Sydney and Melbourne, which are more sensitive to changes in interest rates, she said. A model developed at the Reserve Bank by economists Trent Saunders and Peter Tulip, now at the Centre for Independent Studies, found interest rates falling one percentage point lifts home prices six per cent higher in the first year than they otherwise would've been.
