SCHOOL PERFORMANCE AND HOUSING PRICE: IMPACT OF REGISTRATION EXERCISE DATE AND DISTANCE TO SCHOOL

Abstract

Compared to other studies, this dissertation addresses the relationship of housing prices and school performance from 2 dimensions instead of 1, namely registration period and distance from the school. Many studies support the fact that the years between 6 and 14 are crucial in an individual’s overall mental, emotional and physically development. It is no shocker that Singapore parents, notorious for their desire for their children to excel, will want to seize these developmental years. The result: parents wanting to enroll their children in good quality primary schools. This dissertation aims to investigate whether parents from both lower to middle income group and higher income group have the marginal willingness to pay for primary school priority for their children. To increase their children chance of entering the school of their choice, the most viable way would be to purchase a property near the school zone to qualify for the home-school distance priority. This study aims to find out if there is any significant price premium before the Primary One Registration Exercise due to this home-school distance priority scheme. This study revealed a +4.41% (public) and +3.5% (private) price difference for properties transacted before the Primary One Registration Exercise in July compared to properties transacted after the Primary One Registration Exercise within 500m of good performing primary schools. This study also revealed that the properties within the Central region has the highest price premium while the properties in the West region have the lowest price premium. Interestingly, for both HDB resale and private properties located within the 2nd priority balloting of Primary One Registration Exercise (Within 1 km to 2 km of school zone) did not observe any price premium.