Influence of School Accessibility on Housing Values

Abstract

Accessibility to schools, especially prestigious ones, is often recognized as an important attribute that determines housing prices. It is usually cited as a major selling point for new housing developments in Singapore. This paper explores the relationship between accessibility to prestigious schools and the value of housing properties using a hedonic housing price model based on data drawn from the sales records of individual housing transactions in Singapore for 4 years from 2000 to 2003. While traditional hedonic analyses have employed straight-line distance measurements to focal points such as the Central Business District, as an indicator of accessibility, this study employs accessibility measurements computed for zones where the properties are located. The findings indicate that the accessibility to prestigious schools does affect residential property price, and it significantly explains the variation in housing prices in Singapore. However, these are not valued as highly as other attributes, such as neighborhood prestige and tenure of the property. Sensitivity studies of housing prices show that the extent of the influence varies with distances to the Central Business District, school enrollment, and performance ranking.