Why School Zones Matter In Finding Your Next Home

When it comes to finding a new home, there’s certainly no shortage of things to think about—and if you’re a parent, planning a family in the future or looking to make a shrewd investment, school catchment zones are a huge consideration.

Whether you’re buying or renting, the race to get children into good schools has seen property prices soar in certain areas. Here’s why school zones are such an important consideration when searching for your next home.

Property Prices And School Catchment Zones

 

It’s no secret that school catchment zones can have a huge impact on property prices within a certain area for both buyers and renters, however, renting is a great short-term solution to get into your preferred school catchment zone if you can't afford to buy straight away. For instance, looking for rental properties in Melbourne could get you into your dream school district much sooner than house-hunting! 

Domain’s 2021 School Zone Report combines its exclusive Search by School catchment data and its house price property data, to indicate the primary and secondary government school catchment zones that have experienced the highest house price growth rates over the last 12 months.

The report reveals significant house price growth across Aussie capital city school catchment zones—with the top 10 primary and secondary school catchment zones all reporting a whopping 32 - 45 per cent house price growth year on year. Excuse us while we pick our jaws up off the floor...

The Value Of Searching By Catchment Zones

Ultimately, when it comes to how you search for a new property, looking at school catchment zones is a no-brainer. When you assess school zones in the context of house price growth instead of just looking at the growth in capital cities and suburbs; you gain insights into price trends that will prove exceptionally helpful to parents and investors searching for the right property.

According to Domain’s Senior Research Analyst, Dr Nicola Powell, “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…This highlights the effect falling into a particular school catchment zone can potentially have on property price.”

To the same end, school zone price growth performance varied enormously, with properties in neighbouring catchments providing very different outcomes for homeowners. In fact, the impact of school catchment zones is so pronounced; that some school zones in the same postcode, suburb or with overlapping catchment zones varied in the pace or even direction of house price movement. This explains why properties on opposing sides of a street can often vary significantly in price.

Domain’s Search by School Tool

 

While knowing the context of soaring house prices in some areas is useful, ultimately—we want practical tools that allow us to search for available properties based on the school catchment area they’re in, right?

Domain’s ultra-effective ‘Search by School’ tool allows prospective buyers and renters to enter the school they’re interested in checking out, and filter only properties that are available to buy or rent within that catchment area. The Search by School tool enables Domain to understand which school zones are in the highest demand, and report on the findings accordingly—which equips us as parents to make informed decisions about two huge items on the parenting agenda; schools and property. It's easy, straightforward, and oh-so-useful! 

More Schools News Here

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