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A Trulia survey released Wednesday found that a key selling point for buyers are schools and areas that market quality schools. A good school district can be a determining factor for a buyer when purchasing a home, especially for families with children.
Of those surveyed, 19 percent of Americans indicated that their dream home is located in a great school district. However, among parents of children under 18, the percentage of Americans who want to live in a great school district jumps to 35 percent, in contrast to 12 percent of those without kids.
In addition, the survey also found that a great school district is nearly twice as important to those who search online for their dream home on a weekly or monthly basis than those who only search annually.
Trulia compared the frequency of school mentions across markets and found variation among listings that use schools as a selling point.
Metros with the highest share of school mentions, talk about schools in as many as 3 in 10 listings, the survey says. At the top of that list is Orange County, California with 28 percent of listings and San Jose, California with 25 percent of listings mentioning a school.
Among the top ten housing markets with homes noting a school district, half are in California, two are in Michigan, and three are distributed between Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Louisiana. In these top 10 markets, schools appear in 17 percent to 28 percent of listings.
"In housing markets where all the schools are equally good, home sellers are less likely to highlight schools in their listing descriptions,"Trulia noted. "But in markets like California where the quality of the schools can vary from being great to awful, schools can be a major selling point for prospective buyers."
On the other hand, there are housing markets where schools are rarely used as a selling point and only about 1 percent to 5 percent of listings mention schools. Markets where schools are less pronounced as a major selling point are generally located in Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Nevada.
Trulia determined home prices are usually higher in great school districts, however these higher prices could be the result of higher-income residents living in those districts. The analysis of the survey data found that mentioning the word “school” in a for-sale home’s listing description does not consistently add to the price of a home or detract from it.
"In most housing markets, it pays to brag about your local school district if it really is a great, excellent, distinguished, award-winning, or highly-rated school," Trulia concluded.
