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Podcast:  Colleen Edwards interviews John Burns, Real Estate Economist
Photo Caption: Zero energy home in Livermore
Photo Credit: Davis Energy Group – Springer, David

In our final segment with John Burns this week, he talks to The Real Story about green building in our future. His biggest concern in looking forward at the green initiatives for new homebuilding is that permits and fees will be even higher. The result? The price for greener homes will go up, at the same time that the buyer is looking for affordability.

Note: Just before this downturn, builders who were leaders in green construction were seeing that buyers’ expectations were for green features included as standards, and not as options or upgrades. Builders realized that their window for making green features an upgrades revenue-generator was a small one. But as the market began to contract, those green homes outsold the competition and extended the sales cycle after the rest of the market had flattened out.

John sees the greener homes being built today as holding up better in resale value, since they suit consumer mood and meet the newer, stricter energy efficiency guidelines. He also imagines that California entrepreneurs will lead the way in developing green technology, helping both the housing industry and job creation for the state.