Each area seems to have the school that all the parents want their kids to attend. Sometimes it’s the facilities, co-curricular activities or even sporting prowess but more often than not, it’s the academic record that attracts the parents’ attention. With schools now measured on NAPLAN results, there are websites dedicated to ranking all of Victoria’s schools. Of course, if you’re prepared to pay the price, many of the top schools are private. Some are selective entry, where students have to qualify through an entrance exam but some of the top institutions are just local government schools. No fees, no entry requirements yet really strong results. These are the schools that have become so popular that ZONES have been created, so that local children are assured of a place.

With access to these top schools dictated by boundaries, competition has become fierce to get into the zone. It’s not uncommon for two fairly similar homes to be sold in the same street with the sale price $200,000 -$300,000 apart ….. purely because one was in the school zone!!! School zones for particularly secondary schools but sometimes even primary schools have become so sought after that it virtually creates a suburb within a suburb.

And why all the fuss? Well, I guess with private school fees often running at $40,000 per year, it’s easy to see why. If you do the maths on 2 children: 2x $40,000 per year (x 6 years) = $480,000!!! And they don’t have uniforms, books, their laptop, or school camp paid for yet! So that adds up to half a million dollars to educate 2 kids …. and that’s just high school …. and post-tax dollars!!

You can easily see why there is a frenzy to enter the school zones but it’s not without risk! School zones can change. Many have shrunk their boundaries as numbers looking to attend the school have swollen. It’s also possible, over time, for schools to go out of favour. If rankings slide, so too can the school’s popularity. A real shame if you’ve paid a premium to be in the zone.

So, the message is to do your research first and if you plan on using the school zone for your kids to attend that school, you most certainly can end up well in front financially.

Our Barry Plant Eastern Group services many of the areas where these popular schools are found. Serpells Primary, Beverley Hills Primary, Doncaster Gardens and Milgate are all in Manningham as of course is East Doncaster Secondary which ranks inside the top 4 nonselective Government schools in the state. Viewbank Secondary College, Box Hill high and Balwyn High are all local schools with fierce competition to get into the zone.

If you’re looking at buying (or selling) in one of these school zones, the team at Barry Plant would love to help. It’s what we do!

See below our impressive sales activity for the week:

• 11 Champion Street, Doncaster East sold for $1,955,000
• 9 Ben Nevis Grove, Bulleen sold for $1,468,000
• 18 Meldan Street, Burwood sold for $1,405,000.
• 79 Bellevue Avenue, Doncaster East sold for $1,280,000.
• 45 Jacana Avenue, Templestowe Lower sold for $1,160,000.
• 12 Westwood Drive, Bulleen sold for $1,065,000
• 28 Marcus Road, Templestowe Lower sold for $985,000.
• 276 Banyule Road, Viewbank sold for $960,000.
• 6/4 Waverley Road, Chadstone sold for $497,000
• 47/2 Gordon Street, Elsternwick sold!
• 206-210 Yarra Street, Warrandyte sold!
• 6005/2 Sovereign Point Court, Doncaster sold!

Currently under offer and will be sold soon:

• 4/29 Price Avenue, Montmorency
• 2/8 Raglan Road, Research
• 12 Magpie Court, Diamond Creek
• 24 Tobruk Avenue, Heidelberg West
• 3/36 Shelley Street, Heidelberg Heights
• 4/36 Shelley Street, Heidelberg Heights
• 6/36 Shelley Street, Heidelberg Heights
• 107/23 Carawatha Road, Doncaster
• 106/164 Manningham Road, Bulleen
• 3/11 June Crescent, Templestowe
• 5/245 Williamsons Road, Templestowe
• 6 Dewpond Court, Templestowe
• 3/1 Ware Crescent, Ringwood
• 201/373-377 Burwood Highway, Burwood
• G07/373-377 Burwood Highway, Burwood
• 1/24 Mountfield Road, Mitcham

Spiro Drossos

Managing Director

Barry Plant Eastern Group