30 Jun The Aggressive Green Market

As more bargain foreclosures enter the market and existing home prices continue to drop, things aren’t getting easier for builders.

While things seem to be improving slowly, some developers and builders have figured out that aggressively marketing their green homes may be to the key to their success. A new neighborhood in Arizona called Lyon’s Gate, which opened this past weekend, features some of the most cutting edge green technology seen in master planned communities yet. The big feature is the advanced solar electric and thermal system that generates twice the energy per square foot of most solar panels today. To top it off, homeowners can control and monitor their systems from a computer or even their cell phone.

This is amazing considering that this sort of technology wasn’t even available this time last year, according to a WSJ.com report. These features are not cheap and the developer was actually able to install them due to the deal they got on the community’s land last year in the wake of falling prices.

It will be interesting to see the end result of this community experiences. I believe that the builders that are embracing green practices and marketing accordingly will see the greatest return in the next few years. Meritage Homes, owner of Lyon’s Gate, was in a great position to install these sustainable features in their homes. The cost of the land made the decision to install them easy. Future properties will not be so lucky and I wonder if competitors will try to match their prices with a similar product. These are the interesting scenarios that I cant wait to see unfold as the market recovers. I think we will see a clear distinction in the strong and the weak when it’s time to start building again.