Six of the top 10 eco-friendly housing markets are in California and all 10 are either in the Pacific or Mountain time zones, according to a new data report from Realtor.com.
For this report, data was culled from Realtor.com listings with eco-friendly keywords including “eco-conscious,” “zero-energy,” and “solar panels” – and these listings were divided by the total listings for the markets.
Yuba City in Northern California had the highest share of green listings, with a 12.3% share of listings with eco-friendly terms. Vallejo, California, ranked second with 10.6% of listings featuring with eco-friendly term and Tucson, Arizona, coming in third with an 8.3% share. California’s Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura market placed fourth at 8.2% and the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad market came in fifth at 8.1%
Rounding out the top 10 were Fort Collins, Colorado (8.0%); Stockton, California (7.9%); Greeley, Colorado (7.6%); Los Alamos, New Mexico (7.5%); and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California (7.4%).
Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale credited state and local policies with giving the top 10 a conspicuously West Coast slant.
“It’s worth noting that there are both carrots and sticks nudging homeowners to adopt more eco-friendly features,” she said. “Local governments are not just relying on incentives to change behavior. California – already a leader in solar panels in homes – mandated solar panels for new residential construction several years ago.”
