No housing premium in Boys High school zone

Being close to Hamilton Boys' High does not increase house values.

Living in the Hamilton Boys' High school zone does not boost your house value. In fact, being in the zone seems to bring values down.

Housing premiums in HBHS zone have fallen 3.12 per cent below the Hamilton regional median, according to new real estate market information.

The housing premium is the difference between the Hamilton regional median and the median within that school zones.

The Hamilton regional median is currently $513,915, yet in Hamilton East within the HBHS zone, the premiums have dropped to $497,856.

Only a small proportion, approximately 20 per cent, of Hamilton Boys' High School students reside within this zone."

Stephen Ng

The trend is the same for Hamilton Girls' High School while Hillcrest High School has a 2 per cent rise premium within their zone.

Rototuna Junior High School premiums contrasts its rivals, however, with a 44 per cent rise above the Hamilton's median with estimates at $738,746.

Although Hamilton East premiums are below the regional median, HBHS Board of Trustees chairman Stephen Ng is not concerned by the drop.

"The Hamilton Boys' High School zone is a relatively small area of central Hamilton. Only a small proportion, approximately 20 per cent of Hamilton Boys' High School students reside within this zone," Ng said.

"The majority of students are out-of-zone applicants from elsewhere in the city, the greater Waikato region and beyond, therefore demographic changes in central Hamilton would not be expected to have a significant impact on Hamilton Boys' High School."

As of 2016, Education Counts had on record that HBHS had 2244 students enrolled at the school, around 500 of them live in the school zone.

Despite premiums dropping, the Hamilton East area is still a very in demand zone according Jeremy O'Rourke, managing director for Lodge Real Estate Hamilton.

Outside of the families looking to move closer to the local schools, O'Rourke has put the demand down to the different types of houses that are on offer in the area and the diversity in living styles.

"There is significant development occurring in the area, particularly with high density townhouse developments. This reflects the strong demand developers are getting from people wanting to move to the suburb. Some of these newer builds are the reason that the ratio of stock to sales in Hamilton East is higher than the rest of the city," O'Rourke said.

O'Rourke states that school zoning is not a major difference between Hamilton East and other suburbs.

"The Hamilton East area is divided into two school zones, HBHS/HGHS and Hillcrest Secondary School. There is a degree of people who move to the area to be in their preferred school zone. However, we don't believe it is significant enough to cause a difference between this suburb and houses in other suburbs."