Higher Education
A new study says that homes in a ZIP code with at least one good elementary school have home values 77 percent higher than the average home in districts without any good schools nearby.
ATTOM Data Solutions analyzed 2015 average test scores and compared them to 2016 home price values and home appreciation in its 2016 Schools and Housing Report.
The average home value in a ZIP code with a good school was approximately $427,400, while in a ZIP without one, it was $241,100, according to the study. More importantly, homes appreciate at a much faster rate in good school ZIP code districts: The average home value gain was $74,700 since purchase, compared to a gain of $23,300 in ZIPS without a good school—a difference of more than $51,000.
Of course, if math classes taught us anything, it’s important to note that the large difference in dollars is at least partially attributable to the higher values of the homes overall. So ATTOM calculated the return on investment (ROI), and found that homes near good schools see an ROI of 32 percent, about 4.5 percent higher than those without a good school.
So what qualifies as a “good school?” The property data company defines one as a school whose state Department of Education test scores are at least one-third above the state average.
Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions, says that buying in a ZIP code without a good school can offer plenty of benefits to homeowners, but it has much less dependable price growth over time.
ATTOM analyzed 19,000 schools in 4,400 ZIP codes with 45 million homes to produce the data.
Home Value | |
---|---|
With a good school | $427,400 |
Without a good school | $241,100 |