A booming property market is having a flow-on effect for an Albion school.
Research from Domain.com.au shows the house price growth in the Albion Primary School catchment zone rose by 29.4 per cent in the year to October 2016, making it the seventh largest increase for a primary school catchment in the country.
Albion Primary School leading teacher Andrea Murray says the school is adding extra classes to deal with all the young families moving into the area.
“For the first time in two or three years, we’ve offered additional classes, especially in the prep area,” Ms Murray said.
“At the moment our enrolment is at 185 students. This time last year it was 129, so there has been a noticeable jump.”
She said there has also been a shift in the demographic of the school population, with less families renting in the area and more people buying homes in the school zone.
“In the past, our school population could be quite transient … but that’s certainly changed recently,” she said. “The houses in the area are beautiful, and many young families, especially, are looking at Albion because nearby suburbs, like Seddon or Footscray, are too expensive.
“They also shop around and look for the best school.”
Bells Real Estate senior sales executive Tran Truong said access to good schools played a major role in decisions made by home buyers.
“Access to schools is very important,” he said. “No doubt more people are looking at Albion and nearby suburbs due to that.”
The median house price in the Albion Primary School zone is now $565,000, up from $436,750 in October 2015.
