- Study from Victorian high school finds embarrassing street names lower prices
- Sacred Heart students investigated sales on addresses with funny names
- Research found homes were 20 per cent cheaper and $140,000 below median
A high school study may have found the answer to stopping Sydney’s out-of-control housing market – give every street an embarrassing name.
Research conducted by students at a Victorian girls school, a real estate agent, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics have identified homes with awkwardly-titled addresses are an astonishing 20 per cent cheaper.
Butt Street, Wanke Road and Willys Avenue were among those included in the investigation, with a clear trend evident in identifying the key to cheaper houses.
A high school study may have found the answer to stopping Sydney’s out-of-control housing market – give every street an embarrassing name
Research conducted by students at a Victorian girls school have identified homes with awkwardly-titled addresses are an astonishing 20 per cent cheaper
Students at Sacred Heart College in Geelong investigated 27 streets across the state with odd names to see if there was any correlation between titles and their prices.
They approached the ABS, who helped them identify 47 years worth of data from $1.5 billion worth of auctions in the area.
The results found that houses on Fanny Street and Beaver Street, among others, brought in sales 20 per cent lower than average, which equates to $140,000 below Melbourne’s median price.
They then surveyed 323 adults on the addresses and their likelihood of purchasing a home with all the information at their disposal.
‘We think that there is a proportion of people that would not be comfortable living in those streets, so they don’t compete for those properties and that would drive prices down,’ Sacred Heart head of science Dr Adam Cole told the ABC.
‘We think it’s probably got to do with a proportion of people being embarrassed by the address when they have to give it out.’
The study found the embarrassing name-effect was most prevalent in major cities where there was more options for buyers.
The news is sure to send potential investors in the direction of suburbs like Rooty Hill, Cockburn and Dog Swamp.