Government school zone house price growth outpaces Sydney: Domain

Data for Sydney school catchments suggests that school catchments can influence house price movement, and primary school zones have a slightly bigger impact, according to the Domain 2020 School Zone Report.

Taking a deeper look, house prices have risen across most school catchment zones, with 77% of primary schools and 84% of secondary schools increased annually.

The top ten growth rates for primary and secondary school catchment zones ranged from 20% to 32% and were spread across inner, middle and outer suburban areas.

Annual house price growth in almost half of the government school zones outpaced Sydney's, with some rising more than three times faster.

Price growth performance varied between neighbouring or partially overlapping school zones; more primary school catchments outpaced the respective suburb house price growth.

“The boundary of public school catchment zones can have a huge influence on property decisions and the data suggests certain ones can have a positive effect on house prices,” Domain’s Senior Research Analyst, Dr Nicola Powell said.

“Across Australia’s capital cities the catchments with the biggest increase in house prices were spread across inner, middle and outer suburban locations. School zone price growth performance varied enormously, with neighbouring catchments providing very different outcomes for homeowners. Some school zones in the same postcode, suburb or with overlapping catchment zones varied in the pace or even direction of house price movement.”

“The highest growth rates were across a variety of price-points illustrating the importance of education at all budgets. This highlights the effect falling into a particular school catchment zone can potentially have on property price.”

“School catchment zones have always been a crucial factor when deciding where to purchase a home, the ability to work remotely could place additional emphasis on the importance of school catchments. Those on higher wages are more likely to be able to adopt flexible working arrangements, this could place additional pressure on home values, particularly in desirable regional or outer suburban locations,” Dr Nicola Powell, concluded.