How school zones affect property prices

When you’re on the hunt for a new property, there are so many things to consider – location, amenities, is there room for a man cave?

What you might not have thought about, particularly if you don’t yet have school-aged kids, is the impact state school zoning can have on property prices.

School zones refer to those lines the education department draws on a map, dictating the catchment area from which a school should draw their students.

Students who live inside the zone must be accepted into the school, and while parents can apply from outside the boundary on special grounds (such as having siblings at the school, or access to a certain sport, language or program not available at other schools) there’s every chance they’ll be knocked back.

Schools can be quite beholden to these zoning regulations, as sometimes their eligibility for funding depends on how strictly they enforce their zone.

And with knock-down and re-builds going on in many inner and middle-ring suburbs, with three or four families now living in townhouses on sites where a single dwelling once stood, some schools are pushed to capacity even when they have tight zoning rules.

With elite private schools around the country costing parents up to (or in excess of) $30,000 per year, per child, it’s understandable that top-performing public schools are in high demand.

Many mums and dads are willing to fork out hundreds of thousands of dollars to lock down an address that guarantees their child entry. And who can blame them?

By the time their little darling graduates Year 12, between fees, uniforms, and extras they will have to spend more than half a million dollars on their education – money that could have been used to pay down their mortgage.

In some suburbs, top-ranking public schools actually outperform their private counterparts, so you could argue that the money is better spent on the bricks and mortar.

Does school zoning add a price premium?

The Real Estate Institute of Victoria reports that Melbourne homes in coveted school catchments can sell for up to $600,000 more than those out of the zone, with Glenferrie Primary and University High School among the most sought-after.

In Sydney, Neutral Bay Public School (primary) and Hunters Hill High School are popular, while in Brisbane, Sunshine Beach and Sunnybank are the state high schools where parents are vying for a spot.