Articles

Good Schools, Bad Real Estate, WSJ

Despite the housing slump, house hunting in good school districts frustrates parents who often have to settle for less house...It's supposed to be a buyer's market. Yet, for parents determined to buy in areas associated with top schools, those bargains may be harder to come by. When housing markets go south, "areas with exceptional schools tend to hold their value better than the market overall," says Michael Sklarz, president of Collateral Analytics, a Honolulu-based firm that specializes in real estate data analysis....In ...parts the country, home prices have dropped in areas with good schools, but the declines are typically nowhere near the levels in their surrounding metro areas. In Irvine, Calif., a city that regularly gets national attention for its quality schools, average price per square foot has fallen 18% since its 2006 peak, but prices in the greater metro area surrounding Irvine fell 33%. The same goes for Edina, Minn., where prices per square foot are down about 14% since their peak, versus 27% for the greater Minneapolis area. And in the brainy town of Andover, Mass., prices are down just 4%, versus more than 16% for the Boston metro division.
By Sarah Max, June 25, 2010 WSJ

Link to article