Foster City Islander Article - 02-21-2007
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Charter Public |
Phyllis Moore, President, Foster City High School Foundation |
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Value of Good Schools to Homeowners
Home buyers and real estate agents have always known that houses sell at a premium in towns with good schools. Just ask any one of the thousands of families who bought their home in Foster City so that their children could attend our elementary and middle schools. Once our planned charter public high school is built, Foster City homeowners can expect to see a “high school premium” added to the value of their homes. Skeptics question this prediction. However, comparative data support it.
The independent, nonprofit GreatSchools.net lists Foster City among the top 20 Bay Area communities with the best school values. This is based on the high quality of our elementary and middle schools relative to the cost of our housing. Homes cost even more in most other Bay Area cities that have equally good elementary and middle schools, but also have good high schools.
In other words, Foster City is currently a good school value because our home prices do not include a “high school premium.” GreatSchools highlights this with a quote from a Foster City mom, who points out, “We knew when we moved here that there was no high school, but we thought that would change.”
How much is a high school in Foster City worth to its homeowners? Research from Movoto.com, reported in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, estimates a “school premium” of at least 15% in Cupertino. As reported in the Palo Alto Weekly, interviews with Palo Alto homeowners and real estate agents also point to a 15% premium for houses in areas with the best schools.
The sale price of a home in Foster City averages about $150,000 less than in Cupertino and about $350,000 less than in Palo Alto--cities that have highly-rated elementary, middle, and high schools. Data from Movoto show that parents pay a $378,000 premium for their homes so that their children can attend Los Altos High School.
We will not know exactly how much a high school is worth to homeowners until it is up and running. However, if the school added $50,000 (4.6%) to the cost of an average home, this would increase the total value of Foster City real estate by more than $400 million.
