That's according to Domain's 2020 School Zones Report, which reveals the 10 primary and secondary school catchment zones across Australia that have seen the highest price growth year-on-year.
According to the research, which is based on data from Domain's app, the top 10 school zones in terms of price (not school rankings) all recorded at least a 25% growth over 12-months.
That's a median price growth of at least a quarter.
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Domain reports school catchment boundaries can be a critical factor in the property decision-making process, for both investors and owner-occupiers.
The property platform's Senior Research Analyst Dr Nicola Powell said certain catchment zones can have a positive effect on house prices.
“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," Dr Powell said.
"Some school zones in the same postcode, suburb or with overlapping catchment zones varied in the pace or even direction of house price movement.”
Dr Powell said while school zones have always been crucial for some when deciding to purchase a home, the ability to work from home could place an even greater emphasis on it.
"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," she said.
"The highest growth rates were across a variety of price-points illustrating the importance of education at all budgets."
See also: House prices to rise 9% in 2021 - ANZ
Which school catchments had the biggest growth?
Perth took the top spot for the primary and secondary school catchment zones that reported the greatest house price growth YoY.
The Como Primary School catchment ($901,750 median price) and Armadale Senior High School ($325,000 median price) recorded growth of 35.6% and 32.7% respectively.
Otherwise, the rest of the top 10 was dominated by school zones in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, with one from Canberra and another from Western Australian featuring as well.
See also: The most affordable and liveable suburbs in Australia revealed
Primary school growth
NSW school catchment growth
In Sydney, house prices rose across most school catchment zones, with 77% of primary schools and 84% of secondary schools increasing annually.
The highest-growing suburbs were spread out across inner, middle and outer suburban areas: Newport Public School and Epping Boys High School were the best performing catchment zones at 29% and 32.3% on average.
Victoria school catchment growth
Melbourne's best performing primary school catchment was Elwood Primary, helping surrounding houses grow 27.2% in value annually.
Staughton College was the best performing secondary catchment at 28%.
In Melbourne, three-quarters of primary school zones and 85% of secondary school zones posted positive annual house price growth, with the ten highest massively outperforming the wider city's annual growth.
Queensland school catchment growth
According to Domain's report, Greater Brisbane secondary school catchments appear to have a more positive impact on house price growth compared to primary school catchments.
Annually, 72% of secondary school catchments recorded price increases compared to 61% of primary schools.
Bald Hills State School saw surrounding houses grow by 29.2% yearly, and Flagstone State Community College saw 23.9% growth.
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
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