This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
ALMOST half of Australia’s primary and secondary school catchment zones are outperforming house price growth of the suburb they are located in, by as much as 50%.
According to Domain’s annual School Zones Report, the top primary school for house price growth is Queensland’s Walloon State School, with the top secondary school Tamborine Mountain State High School, also in Queensland.
This is reflected in the catchment area for Walloon State School seeing 43.9% house price growth annually for a 2022 median house price of $626,000.
While Tamborine Mountain State High School’s catchment zone saw 37.9% annual house price growth to a median of $910,00.
“This growth isn’t surprising as there will always be a high demand for housing in particular school catchment zones. When people are looking for a home, we know that they’re looking for a lifestyle, and education is a big part of that no matter what part of Australia you live in or your housing budget,” said Nicola Powell, chief of research and economics at Domain.
The annual School Zones Report overlays Australia’s government school catchment zones with Domain’s property price data to examine supply, demand and price growth in school areas.
And with the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest Schools data showing that in 2022, the majority of students were enrolled in government schools—64%—the report applies to a significant portion of the population.
“Almost half of government school catchment zones saw house prices rise faster than the suburb they are located in, with most having up to 10% additional growth. This just shows just how important the geographical location of a property in relation to a school catchment zone is to parents and investors,” added Powell.
The housing market downturn has had a diverse impact on school catchment zones’ house prices, with Sydney and Melbourne most impacted.
“This weaker outcome relative to other cities is anticipated, given Sydney and Melbourne have been leading Australia’s housing downturn, having some of the deepest falls from their house price peaks,” said Powell.
“While the top school catchment zones in Sydney and Melbourne are spread across the cities, they largely favour growing areas that offer affordability, with the majority sitting below the overall median house price.”
Meanwhile Queensland dominated the top 10 lists for highest annual growth accounting for seven of the top ten for both primary schools and all but one of the secondary schools.
“Queensland takes the lead with the majority of the highest-growth school catchment zones nationally. While these areas have all experienced growth, most are well under their capital cities’ median house prices bringing to light the impact of the past years’ cost of living environment,” said Powell.
“At the start of 2022, families were searching for school catchment zones close to natural environments like beaches and parks, but now it seems affordability is highest on families’ property purchase wish lists.”
