"Green" homes command no premium

"Transitional design", so it says. Uh huh.

130 Old Church has cut its price again, to $3.295. Started a year ago June at $3.995.

Its listing touts all the architectural and builder awards it has won, and describes it thus: "This home is at the height of Green Standards from the air purification system to the geo-thermal heating/cooling, Crestron Home automation system, whole house distributed built-in audio and surround sound system in family room."

None of that is particularly persuasive to buyers, in my experience. The fact that the lot was carved out of a cliff, and was overpriced at the start, is. This new price may do it, because it really is a good house, and Old Church Road's a good, convenient location. But bamboo flooring, low volatile paint, geo-thermal heating, and Crestron systems are all just manifestations of feel-good builders' virtue signaling and ego, and do nothing to increase market value.

This is not literally a "lipstick on a pig" situation, because the house itself is fine, but all the green stuff is indeed lipstick, and of no value. The listing agent, Sabine Schoenberg, is the woman behind the current Greenwich PR boondoggle, so she knows from illusion and reality. Maybe this new price reflects that.