Assessing the impact of sustainability-related features on residential property price

Problem/Purpose - The paper assesses the impact of sustainability-related features on the house sales price and listing periods. This paper also aims to investigate whether there is an increasing house price for the properties with recorded sustainability-related features in the repeated sales. Design/methodology/approach - This paper is based on the analysis of the repeated transaction sales for Kelso, a top-selling suburb with the highest number of sales transactions in Townsville, Australia from 2004-2014, and compares the level of sustainability-related features to property sales price and listing periods. Findings - The results show that among 215 houses with repeated sales, there are only 22 houses that have recorded sustainability-related features. These 22 houses have shorter listing periods from years 2011 to 2013 and a slightly higher percentage change in the repeated sales price from 2010 (with second sales happened in more than 6 years’ timeframe) compared to the other houses without recorded sustainability-related features. Research limitations - As this research only focused on one particular suburb within this region, analysis of longer sales periods and more suburbs will increase the validity of the results. Takeaway for practice – The findings are likely to be applicable to residential properties and will inform valuers to take sustainability-related features into consideration in the valuation of their client houses. This paper could provide empirical evidence to support real estate agents to communicate sustainability-related features to potential buyers/sellers to put forward sustainability-related features for getting the highest selling price. Originality/value - This paper focuses on the effect of sustainability-related features on the repeated sales data of Kelso (a suburb in Townsville, Australia). All houses are located in the same suburb which eliminates potential location premium or discount factors in housing price determinants.