Abstract

In real estate markets where energy efficiency certificates are not mandatory, such as Santiago in Chile, incorporating solutions that respond to the growing demand for sustainability entails a natural tension between their acceptance as necessary measures and the way they are addressed by the market. Under this mechanism, sustainability attributes have been introduced that are communicated individually through real estate promotion. A methodology consisting of two approaches was utilized to investigate the cross-validation of attributes, in terms of supply and demand, and the evolution of them in 8255 real estate advertisements for the period 2012–2017. Their positioning was more evident in higher-value homes, where they were identified as consolidated attributes, while they are considered innovations at the lower end of the market. However, as evidence suggests, sustainability attributes decline in relative importance over time, ceasing to be considered marks of distinction. This suggests that this model should be reviewed from a public policy perspective, with the understanding that the current voluntary standards must compete with other attributes. At the same time, it is necessary to make progress in the improvement of the obligatory minimum standards with the objective of establishing a more demanding baseline that incentivizes competitiveness in the market.