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West Australian parents are keeping school catchment zones front-of-mind in the hunt for a new home in Perth’s hot property market, with new data revealing a southern suburbs school as the most-searched catchment in the state.
According to real estate website Domain, house-hunters searched for the Harrisdale Senior High School catchment the most, while Shenton College came in at a close second.
Nearly all the schools in the top 10 had more than 2000 students enrolled as of semester two, 2025, and were all in the metropolitan area.
While it is not possible to know exactly how many of the searches translated into a purchase, Ray White Armadale City sales consultant Prince Gill said Harrisdale Senior High School was the areas main selling point.
In 2017, Gill worked for a building company which was promoting the high school as a key reason to purchase land in the suburb as the school was being built.
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From there, demand has skyrocketed and in 2025 the school introduced a specialist cricket program which Gill said had only furthered interest.
“Harrisdale is an owner-occupied suburb – there are not many houses to rent,” he said.
“There is a $60,000 to $100,000 price difference between homes in Harrisdale and neighbouring suburb Piara Waters presently because the latter was removed from the school catchment area due to significant demand.
“Now there is Piara Waters Senior High School and I believe that as its reputation grows so to will the prices.”
Gill said the area was also well-connected via public transport and was considered safe due to the number of families, increasing its appeal compared to neighbouring suburbs.
Domain senior economist Dr Joel Bowman said that for many families the school catchment came first, and the house came second.
“School catchments play a major role in where people want to live and many are willing to pay a premium to secure a spot in that area,” he said.
“The desirability of a public school is based on academic rankings, or specialist programs on offer and so secondary schools have more of an impact on where people choose to live than primary schools.
“Being in the right catchment area is often seen as the alternative to private schooling and so buyers are willing to pay more on the house because they are saving on school fees.”
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Students from Oberthur Primary School, the only primary school on the most-searched list, primarily feed into Rossmoyne Senior High School – higher up on the list – meaning some families are also thinking ahead and securing spots in coveted areas earlier.
Bowman said low stock and supply was also driving prices higher. As of time of publication, there are just 33 properties available to buy in Harrisdale’s catchment area, and 27 available to rent.
“It is no surprise that desirable school zones have even lower stock as families buy and hold out as their children go through school – there is less turnover,” he said.
“When stock does become available it is then always going to be in higher demand.”
Two regional schools – Australian Christian College Southlands and WA’s College of Agriculture Narrogin – were also among the most searched in 2025.
Bowman said although supply is comparatively low in the regions, the prices are more affordable and living away from the city is becoming more desirable, driving interest further afield.
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