Yes, a good school can boost your property value a lot

Property group Seeff says that your property in close proximity to a good schools can boost its vale by as much as 40%.
Seeff noted that the Western Cape has come out tops in the country for matric passes this year. No less than 27 schools obtained a 100% matric pass rate for the fifth consecutive year.
It said that a number of good schools are located in just about every neighbourhood across the metro and the surrounding areas.
And this, said Samuel Seeff, chairman of the Seeff group, is one of the key driving factors for the housing market. Even buyers that migrate to the city from areas such as Johannesburg tend to be drawn to suburbs and areas with excellent schools.
“The competition for space in schools, not just private, but also government schools is such that there is tremendous demand for homes close to or within the catchment areas of good schools. So much so, that buyers are often prepared to pay a premium of 20%-40% for such a property,” said Seeff.
“When we look at the list of 27 schools that obtained a 100% matric pass rate, we note that these are not just schools located in the R5-R10 million-plus suburbs either, but also in the middle class areas such as Parklands and Sunningdale in the Blouberg area along with Strand as well as in Boland towns such as Paarl and Stellenbosch and even in country towns such as Bonnievale and Riversdale.”
The southern suburbs residential belt that stretches from Rosebank and Rondebosch to Tokai for example boast about 160 schools in all, the highest concentration in the country.
According to Seeff’s licensee for the area, James Lewis, it therefore comes as no surprise that the area is home to no less than ten of the schools that boast a 100% pass rate for 2015.
Charmaine Scott-Wilson, agent for the neighbourhood says that there are about 16 private and government schools in the Rondebosch area alone. Aside from the high concentration of schools, there is also the University of Cape Town that adds to the high demand for homes here.
The demand for a home near a school or close to the university is now such that there are now almost no houses on offer below the R3 million price band. Even those priced to around R6 million are snapped up quite rapidly and seldom need to be advertised according to the agent.
While not immune to economic challenges and certainly set for a challenging year ahead, Seeff said it expects high demand areas, including those with top schools, to continue seeing strong demand and good prices for sellers.
More on Property in SA
Buying vs renting property in SA