| The Massachusetts Association of Realtors yesterday came out in opposition to a proposed bill by Gov. Charlie Baker that would make the commonwealth the first state to require home sellers to share energy efficiency grades for their houses with potential buyers.
MAR said it does not think the bill, An Act Relative to Consumer Access to Residential Energy Information, would help improve energy efficiency in the commonwealth, but would instead cause harm to moderate-income homeowners, and further hurt a housing market starving for inventory.
The bill would require that a home energy scorecard and energy rating be provided to homeowners as part of free residential energy efficiency assessments. Home energy performance ratings four one- to four-family units would be made available after Jan. 1, 2021.
The information on the scorecard would include an estimate of annual energy consumption and associated cost based on the home’s physical features such as lighting, insulation and heating equipment.
“This energy efficiency score would really stick it to moderate-income homeowners with older homes who can’t afford upgrades,”MAR President Rita Coffey said in a statement. “Not every 53-year-old home is the same and to put an energy efficiency rating on them won’t improve energy efficiency.”
Having received some flack in the past due to his support for natural gas, this bill is sure to receive a better reception from environmentalists.
“Massachusetts is a national leader in energy efficiency, and this first-of-its-kind legislation would provide energy performance data to homeowners and buyers to improve consumer information and promote home energy efficiency,” Gov. Baker said in a statement. “These improvements will result in the reduction of hundreds of thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions and hundreds of millions of dollars in annual savings for Massachusetts ratepayers.”
According to MAR housing data, the number for homes for sale in Massachusetts has been going down for 72 of the last 73 months. This lack of inventory has pushed median home prices to their highest level on record; year to date, the median price of a single-family home in the Bay State was $340,000, according to analysis from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. According to MAR, a mandatory energy audit required prior to a home being listed for sale would further restrict inventory levels at a time when more homes are needed to meet demand.
“Massachusetts is starved for housing inventory. In fact, it’s so severe, that we’re seeing the lowest number of homes on the market since we’ve been tracking this data,” said Coffey. “This scarcity is increasing home prices to a point where many first-time homebuyers are being forced out of the market and deciding to look in other states to buy a home.”
