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Sought-after government school zones can add more than $150,000 to the price of a property, leaving some families weighing the extra costs against private school fees and choosing to spend the money on property.
Melbourne’s inner north commands the highest additional costs associated with housing in a school zone. The catchment, which includes Princes Hill Secondary and University High School, costs 23 per cent more, or an additional $356,700, when compared with properties surrounding the zone, according to property analytics group Cotality.
Katie Gates and her son Hudson in the front yard of their Franskston South home. She bought in the area so her sons could be in the Frankston High School zone.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Several schools known for high VCE results also correspond with higher housing prices, such as Glen Waverley Secondary College – in an area where homes cost 13 per cent more than outside the catchment – and McKinnon Secondary College, in a zone where prices are 10 per cent higher.
“Broadly, there is a high inherent home value in some of the top public non-selective school zones across Melbourne,” Cotality head of research Eliza Owen said. She added that schools were not the only factor contributing to higher prices but were a significant factor in a family’s decision about where to live.
Owen also notes that houses in many sought-after school zones have shown slightly less capital growth long-term and recently, suggesting they are no longer affordable for many families.
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Higher house prices in sought-after school catchments are not only confined to Melbourne’s inner and leafy suburbs. In the Frankston school zone, home buyers pay an additional 20 per cent, or $160,000, to live in the zone for Frankston High School, according to a report by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.
Katie Grace bought into the zone in 2019, when she and her husband were aware the purchase came at a $50,000 premium compared with properties outside of the school zone.
Grace, a teacher, researched academic results for schools in Melbourne’s south-east and found Frankston had one of the best records. She also wanted her sons to attend the primary schools that fed into the secondary school. Her eldest is due to start year 7 this year.
“Definitely, for us, it was worth doing because with two kids and $20,000 a year for six years of private schooling, it’s cheaper,” she said. “There was a lot of planning involved, but back then they had the best result this side of Oakleigh other than private schools.”
In 2025, the school had five ATAR scores over 95 and 14 per cent of study scores above 37.
Another family who bought in the area for the same reason a year ago said they had paid $125,000 more to buy in the zone than for a similar property outside of it.
“The zone is very exclusive,” said Mark Burke, an agent in the suburb from O’Brien Real Estate.
Some families were even securing an address in the zone without living there so they could enrol their children, Burke said.
“I know of a case recently, they basically bought a block of land, and they used a letter box on the block of land to get into the zone,” he said.
“Another case I’ve had, they’ve rented a property for six or eight months just so they can get into the zone, and then they leave the rental, or they even are prepared to leave the property vacant, just to get the child into the zone.”
To be eligible for enrolment, families must have a residential address in the catchment area at the time of enrolment, but they are not required to remain in the area after their child is enrolled. It is up to schools whether they request additional information to verify a student’s permanent address.
“As our reputation goes up, there’s more demand for the school,” Frankston High School principal Andrew Batchelor said. “And it’s competitive against private. We’re a government school and we just want to offer the best education we can.”
“We don’t think of house prices too much, but I understand that families who move into the zone are making a decision for the future of their child as well.”
Nearby, the Elisabeth Murdoch College zone in Langwarrin also commands higher house prices – an average of $54,300 more than in the area just outside it.
Five-year growth rates for houses inside the school catchment were 129 per cent, compared with 124 per cent outside.
“It’s not too much of a difference, but there’s definitely evidence of a premium within the market,” Cotality’s Owen said.
She said one way to change the influence of school zoning on suburbs would be to invest in schools that weren’t in exclusive areas.
“It seems to me that one way you could relieve house price pressure and difficulty for parents is by enhancing their confidence in the local public school for more affordable markets.”
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A Department of Education spokesperson said school zones are not defined by suburban boundaries. Instead, they are based on need and forecast enrolment.
“Every child has a right to enrol at their local school based on where they live,” the spokesperson said. “The department does not consider housing prices when defining or reviewing school zones.”
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