School league tables and property values

Want to give your property value a bit of a push along? Then start hoping that you are in an area where your local school does well on the soon to be available student results testing tables. And if your local is down the league ladder then hop in to help the local P&C improve facilities because there’s evidence from the United States to suggest that strong public schools attract home buyers and businesses.

The Baltimore Sun carried the story at the weekend of an unusual not-for-profit community organisation called the Greater Homewood Community Corporation whose executive director Karen Stokes uses public school test scores to market her community. “If the school improves, the neighborhood improves,” said Ms Stokes. “And your real estate values will improve. Even if you have no children in the school … what happens in your local school really does matter.”

The very thought that the results of standardised tests like those Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard is forcing state governments in Australia to introduce will be used to sell houses is sure to cause near apoplexy among the local teachers unions but they had better get used to it. Test scores are often the first thing homebuyers research if they’re relocating from out of state, said Sue Hemmerly, a real estate agent at Long & Foster in Timonium. She’s been in the business for 27 years and remembers when relocating families had to rely on scores clipped out of newspapers and mailed to them by their agents. Now prospective buyers get statistics online, often before they’ve called her. “They come in with very exact ideas of what school they want,” Hemmerly said.

Eric Schwartz, an appraiser with A&E Appraisal Services Inc., told the Sun his Glen Burnie house would be worth at least $25,000 more if it were just a few miles away in Severna Park with its high-scoring schools. He has empirical evidence to back him up: The builder put identical models in both places. “I couldn’t afford to live in the Severna Park system, so I bought where I could afford,” said Schwartz, 53. His daughter and son-in-law, who live nearby and have three young children, are already thinking about moving in a few years into “what they consider a better school district,” he said.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is Scott Morrison getting ahead of Malcolm Turnbull in the GST debate?

Image
Michelle Grattan , University of Canberra Scott Morrison has become a true believer in the cause of raising the GST, determined to drive a major switch in the tax mix. The big question is whether Malcolm Turnbull will end up in the same place as his treasurer. Turnbull is keeping his options open. “Changes to the GST are certainly part of the tax debate and certainly being actively considered by the government,” he said on Friday. If Turnbull agrees with Morrison, all will be well and good between them. On the other hand if Turnbull eventually opts for caution and doesn’t walk down the GST road, or in the shorter term feels Morrison is getting ahead of the game, that would be awkward for the gung-ho minister, who would the need to manage his retreat. Morrison wants a high profile and he seeks the limelight. But that carries risks. There is always that salutary tale from Labor days. Paul Keating was passionate about introducing a broad-based consumption tax. Bob Hawke let
Read more

Prime Minister Scott Morrison under pressure as the question about knowledge of a rape gets embarrassing

Image
Any    day   of   the   week Five words by Scott Morrison that fired up social media commentators today. #NotMyPM pic.twitter.com/YiGTGzLNU5 — M🕯️cr💧ft ...... 🍥 🐒🚶......🧠 (@KaurnaCopia) March 18, 2021 They saw an angry and embarrassed Prime Minister. A politician under considerable pressure. Looking for a way out and not being able to see it. Hansard tells the story of how it came about: Members of Parliament: Staff  Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Leader of the Opposition) (14:33): My question is to the Prime Minister. Thirty days ago, the Prime Minister told this House that he asked his former chief of staff, one of the few people he's ever shown empathy for, to verify what his office knew about the reported sexual assault of Brittany Higgins only metres from where he works. Mr Gaetjens reported his findings on the Prime Minister's sports rorts within two weeks. Why is this report, about the Prime Minister's staff, taking so long, and will the Prime Minister release this
Read more

Remembering that Labor only lost last time because of Bill Shorten

A quote for the day from The Australian  ' Former Queensland Liberal Party vice-president and online pollster Graham Young, who runs Brisbane-based conservative think tank the Australian Institute for Progress, says Morrison was always going to struggle to be returned, nixing any suggestion the government had a lock on the election when it was riding higher in Newspoll. “ The only reason they won last time was that Bill Shorten was overconfident, unpopular and they got over the line in a few seats in Queensland,” Young says. “Anyone who thinks it’s a lay-down misere because Albanese is hopeless or whatever is not thinking clearly.”'
Read more