Many homesellers in Central Austin are now advertising their homes as “green homes” with “three star green” ratings. In part II of this series I looked at some of the rating systems, and in this part, I look at how this is shown in the Austin MLS.

The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a searchable database system of REALTOR® listed homes for sale. One of the recently added fields to search by is “Green Building Rating”, which allows these values to be entered:

Central and Austin Green Rating ListingsI discussed the first three rating systems in part II of this series. As you can see by the chart to the right which shows currently availalbe houses and condos in the Central Austin and East Austin areas, a low percentage of listings have been denoted with the green building rating programs.

It looks like green rating field usage still has some way to go. Looking at the 28 available homes at Mueller, only 17 have any rating set as of today, though in reality, the neighborhood design standards require a three star Austin Green Building Program rating (thanks Dusty!) for all residential development.

So while you can ask your agent to find you a green home, it looks like you can’t rely on the data in the MLS alone to find it. This will certainly change as the field becomes more popular.

In part IV of this series, I’ll look at what you can do to your existing home to make it appeal to the ever growing number of green home buyers.

Garreth Wilcock is a real estate agent specializing in Central and East Austin Real Estate. Call 512 694 8873 if you want a free valuation of your home or contact him here. You can search the Austin MLS at his website, or contact him if you want to find a green home.