Property buyers have long recognised that good school catchments can influence where families choose to live.

But how much difference has that actually made over the long term?

To update our original research, we analysed more than 30 years of Perth median house price data using the latest available REIWA figures through to 2026.

Rather than looking at just one school or one suburb, we examined six of Perth’s most highly regarded public and private school precincts and compared their long-term performance against the broader Greater Perth market.

The results reveal a consistent pattern.

While schools are rarely the sole driver of property prices, the suburbs examined across these six selected school precincts generally experienced stronger long-term performance than Greater Perth.

More importantly, the research also highlights that not every suburb near a good school performs equally—and that school catchments appear to be one part of a much broader story about owner-occupier demand, scarcity, neighbourhood quality and long-term property fundamentals. Much of what this research reveals is ultimately driven by buyer behaviour. I’ve explored that idea more deeply in my article on behavioural decision-making in property investing.

Methodology

This research compares annual REIWA median house prices between 1995 and the latest available 2026 figures across six established Perth school precincts. The 2026 figures represent the 12 months to March 2026 rather than the 2026 calendar year.

Each precinct is represented by selected surrounding suburbs. As REIWA median house price data is reported at suburb level, these do not always align precisely with school intake boundaries, and some suburbs may be only partly within a local or optional intake area.

The analysis therefore compares broader school precincts and associated suburbs, rather than individual properties strictly within school catchment boundaries.

The analysis explores:

  • long-term compound annual growth rates (CAGR)
  • individual suburb performance
  • differences between public and private school precincts
  • how selected precincts performed during Perth’s 2014–2019 market downturn.

While strong correlations emerge, the research does not suggest that schools alone create property growth. Rather, it explores how schools interact with broader neighbourhood characteristics that may attract long-term owner-occupier demand.

Full methodology and data notes are available in the Buyers Advocate Perth Research Report No. 1 (2026).

Key Findings

✓ All six selected school precincts outperformed Greater Perth over the long term on an average-suburb basis.

✓ Not every suburb associated with a highly regarded school produced the same outcome.

✓ During Perth’s 2014–2019 downturn, the selected school precincts generally held up better than Greater Perth.

✓ Schools appear to concentrate long-term owner-occupier demand—but they are one part of a much broader quality story.

Private School Case Studies

The updated research examined three of Perth’s best-known private school precincts: Christ Church Grammar, Hale School and St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School.

Although each attracts different buyers, all three demonstrated stronger long-term performance than the broader Perth market over the past three decades.

The charts below illustrate how those surrounding suburbs have performed relative to Greater Perth.

Christ Church Grammar 

Christ Church Grammar has long been associated with one of Perth’s most established family precincts.

Mature streets, established homes, lifestyle amenity and limited opportunities for significant new housing also characterise the surrounding area.

The chart below compares the long-term performance of nearby suburbs against Greater Perth.

christ_church_grammar_2026

Claremont, Swanbourne and Nedlands all substantially outperformed Greater Perth over the study period.

Rather than attributing that performance solely to the school, the data suggests Christ Church Grammar forms part of a broader concentration of long-term owner-occupier demand.

Hale School

Hale School demonstrates a similar pattern.

The surrounding suburbs combine one of Perth’s leading boys’ schools with coastal amenity, established housing and neighbourhoods that remain highly sought after by families.

hale_school_2026

Wembley Downs, City Beach and Floreat all materially outperformed Greater Perth over the study period.

Again, the school appears to reinforce demand already supported by strong underlying fundamentals.

St Mary’s

St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School is located within another well-established family precinct.

The surrounding suburbs offer a combination of coastal proximity, quality housing, established amenities and access to highly regarded education.

st_marys_2026

The Karrinyup, Trigg and Gwelup precinct recorded the strongest average long-term performance of the six school precincts examined.

While education is one part of that story, the surrounding lifestyle attributes appear equally important.

Public School Case Studies

One of the more interesting findings from the research is that highly regarded public school precincts also demonstrated strong long-term performance.

For many families, access to an outstanding public school influences where they choose to live just as much as proximity to an elite private school.

That sustained owner-occupier demand appears to be reflected in long-term property values.

Shenton College

Shenton College has consistently ranked among Perth’s highest-performing public secondary schools.

Its surrounding precinct has long attracted families seeking established neighbourhoods with strong educational opportunities.

Note: Catchment boundaries have changed over time following the opening of Bob Hawke College. This comparison uses suburbs historically associated with the Shenton College precinct across the study period rather than today’s exact intake boundaries.

shenton_college_2026

Despite those catchment changes, the surrounding suburbs still substantially outperformed Greater Perth over the long term.

This reinforces the idea that enduring owner-occupier demand often extends beyond the school itself.

Rossmoyne SHS

Rossmoyne Senior High School has developed one of Western Australia’s strongest reputations among public secondary schools.

Its catchment has become one of Perth’s most consistently sought-after family locations.

rossmoyne_shs_2026

Rossmoyne, Shelley and Riverton all comfortably outperformed Greater Perth across the study period.

The results suggest that the selected public school precincts can demonstrate long-term property performance comparable with the private school precincts examined in this research.

Applecross SHS

Applecross Senior High School serves another long-established family precinct south of the river.

Applecross, Ardross and Mount Pleasant have long combined quality housing, riverside amenity and highly regarded schooling.

applecross_shs_2026

All three suburbs materially outperformed Greater Perth over the study period.

However, as the next section demonstrates, the school alone doesn’t explain the outcome.

School_Precinct_CAGR_Comparison_1995_2026

Precinct CAGR represents the equal-weighted average CAGR of the selected suburbs within each precinct.

What These Six Charts Have In Common

Although each school precinct is unique, they share several characteristics beyond education.

Most combine:

  • established owner-occupier demand
  • limited opportunities for additional housing supply
  • mature neighbourhoods
  • strong lifestyle amenity
  • high underlying land values.

Those are the same long-term characteristics we look for when assessing quality residential property.

Schools Matter. But They Aren’t the Whole Story.

One of the more interesting findings emerged when we expanded the Applecross Senior High School analysis to include several surrounding suburbs.

Despite their association with the same broader school precinct, the selected suburbs recorded materially different long-term performance.

That tells us something important.

Schools matter — but they rarely explain property performance on their own.

Applecross_SHS_Expanded_Comparison_1995_2026

Applecross, Ardross and Mount Pleasant materially outperformed Greater Perth over the study period, while nearby suburbs such as Booragoon and Winthrop delivered more modest long-term results.

This suggests that proximity to a highly regarded school alone is not sufficient.

Long-term performance still appears to depend on a broader combination of factors, including:

  • neighbourhood quality
  • owner-occupier demand
  • scarcity of land and quality housing
  • underlying land value
  • transport and accessibility
  • lifestyle amenity.

In other words, schools rarely create demand from scratch.

They tend to concentrate demand into neighbourhoods that families already aspire to live in — giving buyers another reason to compete for a relatively limited number of homes.

Where those broader fundamentals are strong, a highly regarded school can reinforce that demand.

Where they’re weaker, the school alone may not be enough.

For buyers, that’s an important distinction.

Families researching school catchments often use resources such as SchoolRank to understand local school performance and catchment information.

However, as this research suggests, the school itself is only one part of a much broader picture.

Understanding the surrounding neighbourhood, the quality of the housing, long-term owner-occupier demand and scarcity can be just as important as the catchment boundary itself.

A Different Question: What Happened When Perth’s Market Went Backwards?

School_zone_precinct_average_downturn_2014_2019

Most research focuses on long-term growth.

We were also interested in something else.

How did these same precincts behave during Perth’s prolonged market downturn between 2014 and 2019?

During that five-year period, Greater Perth declined by around 11.8%.

Using an equal-weighted average across the three representative suburbs within each school precinct, all six selected precincts performed better than Greater Perth.

Four still recorded positive growth.

This doesn’t mean school precincts are immune from market cycles.

Rather, it suggests that established, family-oriented neighbourhoods with enduring owner-occupier demand may demonstrate greater resilience when broader market conditions weaken. That resilience is one of the reasons we place so much emphasis on scarcity when assessing long-term property quality, rather than simply chasing the highest projected growth.

Public and Private School Precincts: More Similar Than Different

One of the more surprising observations was how similarly the selected public and private school precincts performed over the long term.

Families aren’t simply choosing between public and private education.

They’re often choosing between established neighbourhoods offering similar qualities:

  • strong community
  • quality housing
  • mature streets
  • parks
  • local amenity
  • and schools with established reputations.

The school may differ.

The underlying demand drivers are often remarkably similar. In practice, those demand drivers are the same long-term fundamentals we look for when helping clients buy property that will continue to perform over time.

What the Data Doesn’t Show

The research above helps explain what has happened over more than 30 years of Perth property growth.

What it can’t fully explain is why these patterns continue to repeat.

After almost 600 property purchases, I’ve noticed that school catchments influence buyer behaviour in ways that extend well beyond education. They often reflect where families aspire to live, where owner-occupier demand is strongest, and where competition tends to remain resilient over time.

The research helps show what has happened over the past 30 years.

My experience provides some context for why those patterns may persist.

I’ve explored those observations in more detail in this companion article:

→ What Almost 600 Perth Purchases Have Taught Me About School Catchments

What Buyers Can Take From This Research

School catchments can be an important indicator of long-term demand—but they shouldn’t be viewed in isolation.

The strongest-performing locations in this research combined respected schools with other enduring characteristics such as scarcity, owner-occupier appeal, and quality neighbourhood fundamentals. That broader perspective is central to buying property for the long term: looking beyond any single feature and asking whether the underlying reasons for demand are likely to endure.

Rather than asking:

“Is this property in a good school catchment?”

it may be more useful to ask:

“Would families still choose to live here even if the school wasn’t the only attraction?”

That’s often where the strongest long-term opportunities are found.

Research can guide decisions. It shouldn’t replace them.

School catchments are one of many signals that can help identify neighbourhoods with enduring demand.

The challenge is understanding how they interact with all the other factors that influence long-term property performance.

That’s where independent advice can make the biggest difference.

Partner with Buyers Advocate Perth

School catchments don’t guarantee long-term success.

But when they’re supported by strong fundamentals, they can become one of the quiet forces that help quality properties outperform over time.

That’s why our approach looks beyond school zones alone.

We assess the complete picture—scarcity, owner-occupier demand, neighbourhood quality, lifestyle amenity and long-term purchasing power—before recommending any property.

Because buying well isn’t simply about choosing the right school catchment.

It’s about choosing the right property, in the right neighbourhood, for the long term.

If you’re planning your next home or investment and would like an independent perspective, we’d be happy to help you think it through.

Buy well. Build wealth. With confidence.