To what extent do school catchment zones affect house prices?
Domain’s School Zone report revealed almost half of both primary and secondary school zones fetch prices up to 10% higher than the median of the overall suburb they are located.
A school catchment is defined as the geographical location where a state school’s core intake of students must live. It can cross multiple suburbs but may not include a suburb in its entirety.
Domain’s Chief of Research and Economics Dr Nicola Powell said the growth isn’t surprising given there will always be demand for housing in 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,” Dr Powell said.
“This data shows just how important the geographical location of a property in relation to a school catchment zone is to parents and investors.”
| School level | School name (capital cities) | Annual change % |
| Primary | Walloon State School, QLD | 43.9% |
| Primary | Artarmon Public School, NSW | 43.5% |
| Primary | Canungra State School, QLD | 42.9% |
| Secondary | Tamborine Mountain State High School, QLD | 37.9% |
| Primary | Cambridge Primary School, TAS | 37.3% |
| Primary | Coorara Primary School, SA | 35.8% |
| Secondary | Beaudesert State High School, QLD | 32.6% |
| Secondary | Woodridge State High School, QLD | 32.4% |
| Secondary | Oberon High School, NSW | 31.0% |
| Secondary | Beenleigh State High School, QLD | 28.8% |
Source: Domain school catchments with the highest house price growth in 2022
Queensland took the lead of all Australia’s capital cities, taking out nine of the top 10 secondary schools and seven of the top 10 primary school catchments for the highest annual growth.
The number one government primary and secondary school zones for rising house prices were Walloon State School, in the Ipswich area, and Tamborine Mountain State High School in the state's south east.
Prices in the Walloon State School zone rocketed almost 44% in 12 months - the most of any primary catchment in Australia.
For homeowners in the Tamborine Mountain State High School zone, their properties increased in value by almost 38%.
Meanwhile, Sydney and Melbourne had the lowest proportion of school catchment zones with positive annual price growth; given they’ve been leading the housing downturn.
“This weaker outcome relative to other cities is anticipated,” Dr Powell said.
“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.”
However, the top performing schools in each city have bucked that trend.
The catchment zone for the Artarmon Public School on Sydney’s lower north shore experienced the highest annual price growth of 43.5% to a median of $3.545 million.
In Melbourne, the highest price rise was for the Alphington Public School catchment in the north-east of the city, with an increase of 27.9% over the year to a median of $2.26 million.
Across the regions, homes within the catchment zone of Leeton Public School (NSW) soared by 50%, while values within the school zone covered by Drayton State School (QLD) climbed by 49.4%.
The regions’ best performing secondary school catchment areas included Casterton Secondary College (VIC) and Canowindra High School (NSW), where house prices rose by 52.6% and 50.8% respectively.
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