Investors can now find right school zone to buy in

A new search tool on the website of real estate firm Ray White draws on official Ministry of Education national data, and allows for street-by-street searching in a specified school zone.

“It’s fundamentally a matter of supply and demand,” says Ray White chief executive Carey Smith. “All over the country there are schools with very strong records that have particular appeal to parents, and we know for a fact that the reputation of a school has a direct relationship with property values and demand.”

Ray White research found that school zones are among the top four key considerations for property buyers, and that around the country, house-hunters are drawn to specific areas by the quality of schools.

“We find that when our customers are buying with particular schools in mind, they already know the general zone pretty well,” Smith says. “However, there can be a lot of uncertainty about boundaries, and in many cases a single suburb can be half-in and half-out of a zone. This function means that they can check the suitability of a property straightaway.”

Ray White Greenhithe agent Sarah Sherlock says that in her district, a highly favourable 2006 Education Review Office report and decile-10 rating for the Greenhithe School had helped drive the recent property boom where property values have increased above the market average. “There has been a noticeable increase in demand for access to Greenhithe School, and we believe that’s a significant reason for the dramatic upswing in property values,” says Sherlock.

Smith says the web innovation is also an acknowledgement of the Internet’s role in today’s real estate market. His company lists properties on realestate.co.nz and TradeMe.

“TradeMe has revolutionized the way New Zealanders shop for many things, including property,” Smith says.

Almost every New Zealand school is zoned and all zones are searchable on the website. The site data will be updated if the Ministry of Education makes zone changes.