Victoria’s school zone home price hotspots revealed in new ‘Bang for Buck’ report

Parents can save hundreds of thousands buying a home, with new analysis revealing where kids can get a good education in a school zone where prices are in reach.

Exclusive analysis compares the most affordable property markets with the highest performing state schools to help Aussie parents get the best ‘Bang for Buck’. SEARCH BY SCHOOL AND SUBURB BELOW.

Parents can save hundreds of thousands buying a home and get their kids a good education in a school zone where home prices are more in reach, new analysis reveals.

News Corp’s Bang for Buck is a unique data piece that identifies high-performing state primary and secondary schools and the most affordable property markets within their school catchments.

Families can save as much as $300,000 on a property purchase by researching the catchment zones for high-performing schools where homes are more within reach.

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High achieving schools in Point Cook, Glen Waverley, Frankston, Vermont, Oakleigh South, Thomastown and Preston offered the best value catchments, according to the analysis which ranked Point Cook’s Alamanda College as the best value.

The formula utilises the latest NAPLAN data, median house values calculated by PropTrack and school catchment mapping to deliver an insight into an issue that compels many parents to move suburbs to secure a place for their child at a preferred school.

The significant influence of a NAPLAN score on local property prices is reflected in the 70/30 percent weighting for the Bang for Buck ranking.

Four out of the top 10 secondary schools are in the eastern suburbs, where Harcourts Judd White agent Dexter Prack said zones play a big factor into how much buyers are prepared to spend on a property.

Families are trading popular areas such the Glen Waverley Secondary College zone for more affordable catchments with similar NAPLAN scores, he said.

“Buyers are no longer spending money in Glen Waverley like they used to – Highvale and Brentwood Secondary are now coming into the mix,” Mr Prack said.

“If you can save $400,000 and spend $1.4m in the Highvale or Brentwood catchment rather than $1.8m in the Glen Waverley, there is a big disparity in affordability.”

Highvale Secondary College, which has a 622.8 NAPLAN average, has a median catchment house price of $1.53m, compared to around $1.85m in the Glen Waverley zone.

A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 34-36 Beryl Ave, Oakleigh South is on the market for $1.78m - $1.88m.

Even the reputation of primary schools is enough to draw buyers from afar, with Oakleigh South Primary School drawing people from the western suburbs, Buxton Oakleigh agent Dimitri Damianos said.

The school’s catchment has a median home price of $1.233m.

“It isn’t a massive school zone in itself from a buyers persepective. We’ve got very high demand and low supply,” Mr Damianos said.
“There is automatic demand when you’ve got good schools and amenities.

“It’s a family orientated suburb and there isn’t the consistent development that is going on around us.”

Oakleigh South principal Ron Cantlon said he was proud to lead a “highly sought after school”.

5 Vanguard Crescent, Point Cook is listed by Ray Harb from Barry Plant Point Cook and is on the market for $790,000 - $830,000

“People do come into the area for the school because our academic results show high achievement,” he said.

“But we have more than just that - there’s a quality program for all kids including music, sport, robotics, sustainability, visual arts and languages.”

Mr Cantlon said the area was “middle class but trending to the upper middle”.

“We often get calls from real estate agents and prospective parents - even from overseas - asking if a house is in the Oakleigh South zone.”

He said agents estimate the zone is worth up to $200,000 for an average house price.

Alamanda College and Frankston High School were the only schools where the median house price was below $1m in the top 10.

A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 16 Brentwood Dve, Glen Waverley is on the market for $1.2m - $1.32m.

Barry Plant Point Cook partner Ray Harb said the Point Cook’s education and lifestyle offering were a big drawcard for homebuyers, who favoured the more affordable homes to areas such as Altona.

“Point Cook isn’t too far out, it’s got great sporting grounds, lots of parkland and the prestigious Sanctuary Lakes estate and above all else there is good public transport here. You can look at the median house price in Altona that sit at around $1.1m and what you could get in Point Cook with that budget, it’s the full package.”

Thomastown East topped the primary schools with a median catchment house price of $692,700 and a NAPLAN average score of 540.

Jellis Craig Greensborough agent Alex Flanagan said families were no longer only prioritising high schools for their children.

“We do get buyers looking in specific primary school zones for families with younger kids,” Mr Flanagan said.

A three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 321 High Street, Thomastown is on the market for $699,000.

“We are seeing lots of families search specific to school catchments and they have been prepared to compromise on the property if it means purchasing in the catchment.”

When it comes to schooling Trevor Cobbold from the Save our Schools public education lobby group noted there were “huge gaps between low and high socio-economic schools” which was contributing to the need for parents to shop around.

“Victoria has the second lowest funding for public schools in the country,” he said.

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Secondary schools offering best Bang for Buck

Bang for buck rank	School	Main suburb	NAPLAN average	Catchment median house price
1	Alamanda K-9 College	Point Cook	591	$891,200
2	University High School	Parkville	604	$1,169,200
3	Vermont Secondary College	Vermont	607.8	$1,291,700
4	Princes Hill Secondary College	Princes Hill	610	$1,458,100
5	Preston High School	Preston	601.2	$1,142,500
6	Highvale Secondary College	Glen Waverley	622.8	$1,530,000
7	Frankston High School	Frankston	585.6	$901,700
8	Viewbank College	Viewbank	603.4	$1,270,100
9	Glen Waverley Secondary College	Glen Waverley	626.8	$1,840,400
10	Box Hill High School	Box Hill	607.6	$1,534,600

Primary schools offering best Bang for Buck

Bang for buck rank	School Name	Primary Suburb	2023 NAPLAN Average	Catchment House Price Median
1	Thomastown East Primary School	Thomastown	540	$692,700
2	Seabrook Primary School	Seabrook	538	$755,300
3	Docklands Primary School	Docklands	519.8	$533,400
4	Templeton Primary School	Wantirna	561.6	$1,181,200
5	Oakleigh South Primary School	Oakleigh South	568.4	$1,233,700
6	Strathmore North Primary School	Strathmore	545	$1,110,100
7	Preston West Primary School	Preston	554.2	$1,198,700
8	Brentwood Park Primary School	Berwick	534.4	$882,900
9	Brandon Park Primary School	Wheelers Hill	559.2	$1,243,500
10	Kinglake Primary School	Kinglake	530	$819,100

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Originally published as Victoria’s school zone home price hotspots revealed in new ‘Bang for Buck’ report