Energy performance certificates: The role of the energy price

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are introduced to give property buyers better information about the energy efficiency of dwellings, and provide incentives to make energy efficient investment. Previous studies on EPCs effect on property value has given divergent results, some studies find that energy label affect property value, while others find that energy labels have low or no effect. The present paper takes it one step further. Indeed, by using data on energy price in combination with transaction data from Oslo, we conclude not only that the energy label – but the energy performance of dwellings in general – has minor or no effect on transaction prices. This result falls in line with what is inferred by several survey studies; at the moment people buy a dwelling, they pay considerably less attention to the energy performance as compared to other factors, like the availability of garden and outdoor space, location, the neighborhood and the size of the property.