Homes with strong energy performance are commanding significant price and rental premiums across the country, according to new research from Cotality and the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA), with implications for how brokers and lenders assess property value.
The joint report, The Efficiency Edge, found Cotality analysis of more than six million Australian homes showed properties with solar panels achieved prices around 2.7% higher than comparable properties without it, with each additional NatHERS star rating associated with an estimated average 1.3% greater value nationally. Around 70% of established Australian houses, excluding apartments, are estimated to perform below four stars out of ten under the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme, against a seven-star standard now required for new homes.
The report's case studies illustrate the trend at property level. A four-bedroom energy-efficient home in Cygnet, Tasmania sold for $1,475,000 in August 2025, around 66% above the local four-bedroom median of $890,000.
Selling agent Amber Leighton said the vendors had not built the home purely for off-grid enthusiasts: "They wanted to create a really beautiful, aesthetically pleasing house that happened to be off-grid and happened to have lower running costs," she said.
In Fremantle, Western Australia, a three-bedroom townhouse with a 7.5-star NatHERS rating sold for $1,555,000 in April 2026, roughly 22% above the comparable townhouse median.
Ray White Dethridge Groves sales executive Kat Goddard said the property drew wide interest: "We had buyers coming from a really wide range of postcodes that we wouldn't normally see for a Fremantle property," she said.
For brokers, the data adds a fresh consideration to conversations around property valuations and borrowing capacity, particularly as state and territory disclosure requirements evolve.
That shift is already visible in lending volumes: Great Southern Bank's green lending portfolio has doubled in the past 12 months, as 85% of Australians say they'd prefer a home with renewable technology already installed. PropTrack Origin research points to the same shift from a spending angle, with households now planning to lift energy-efficiency spending to more than $85 billion over the next five years.
At the coalface, that shift is already changing how agents talk to buyers. Buyer's agent Chiara Pacifici, of Community West Real Estate, who worked on a separate energy-efficient sale in Perth, said clearer communication of a property's performance can shape purchasing decisions.
"For listing agents, knowing more gets you the appraisal, gets you the listing, gets you the sale," Pacifici said.
REIA president Jacob Caine (pictured) said the shift reflects a broader change in how the industry values homes.
"Energy efficiency equals affordability, comfort, and better housing," Caine said. "And it is firmly part of the future of real estate in Australia."
The regulatory picture is shifting quickly, too: existing homes can now be assessed under NatHERS for the first time, and every state and territory has signed on to a shared national approach to disclosing energy performance at sale or lease.
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