Teacher's pet: Big-time schools push prices of nearby homes up by a whopping 15%

School isn't cool for some homebuyers, then.

According to PropertyGuru, Singapore parents are discovering not only are they making weighted decisions into their kids’ school choice, the qualifying within-2km distance home location holds an equally dominant priority. In other words, parents don’t just buy a property that qualifies their kids to their preferred school, the property is an investable asset that looks to long-term capital yield.

Here's more from PropertyGuru:

States Steve Melhuish, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer: “Residential properties in close proximity to prestigious schools command premium sale and rental prices. The primary one registration period between June to September will see the parent corps staking their purchase claim on above-market priced residential properties closest to these preferred schools. This annual resettling of new ‘school-parents’ in particular, see a unique tranche of purchase and rental activity that influences price trends and buying behavior."

Past private home transactions show that a school’s reputation pushes up the price of nearby homes. Resale condos within the 2km radius in Districts 10, 11 and 21 that house top-name schools like Anglo-Chinese Junior and Primary schools, Nanyang Primary School, Singapore Chinese Girls’ School, Raffles Girls Primary School and Methodist Girls’ Primary School cost as much as 25 per cent more than the average non-landed private properties located outside the 2km radius. In District 10, private properties less than 1km surrounding Anglo-Chinese Junior School are selling between $1,750 to $2,890 psf – much higher than the average district psf of $1,707. Resale condos within 1km of Methodist Girl’s School in District 21 are priced between $748 to $1,688 psf – almost 1.2 times higher than the overall average district psf. In other words, there is a distinct inverse correlation between distance and psf values of resale condos where the further a property is located from the school, the less expensive it becomes.

Popular schools outside the core central region such as St. Hilda’s Primary School, Rosyth Primary School and CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School do not buck the correlating trend of higher priced property closer towards known schools. Instead, PropertyGuru’s findings show a conflicting opposing relationship where properties located at a greater distance away from these schools garnered a higher resale value as compared to those situated less than 1km away!

Rosyth Primary School – a preferred neighborhood school, private property located within 1km averages resale values of between $699 to $1,059 psf – much lower than the overall district average of $1,102 psf. In all, there is also an emerging trend where prices rise as high as 15 per cent as the radii distance increases from 1 and 2km and beyond 2km.