Are you a first home buyer trying to crack the real estate market?

A study by a group of high school girls may have cracked the answer to affordable housing: find the streets with the silliest names and you could save up to $140,000.

You’ll get teased butt save a fortune

Let’s face it: no one wants to live on Butt Street, Ernst Wanke Road, Willys Avenue or Fanny Street.

But if you could save up to $140,000 compared to the median-priced Melbourne property you might change your mind.

That’s according to a study by high school girls from Sacred Heart College (SHC) in Geelong, which identified 27 streets in Victoria with funny names, including the aforementioned Butt Street.

They found that properties on these unfortunately-titled streets were around 20% cheaper than houses on nearby streets in the same location.

The students came to this conclusion after analysing house sales for similar property types on these streets over the past 47 years.

And they didn’t do it alone, enlisting the help of SHC head of science Dr Adam Cole, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the University of Sydney and a Melbourne real estate.

The ‘silly name effect’ more prevalent in capital city suburbs

A follow up survey of 323 adults found that around 30% would not be happy living in a street with a name that’s on the nose (not to mention social suicide!).

According to Dr Cole, it was likely that this affected the supply-and-demand cycle for these properties, driving down prices.

He noted, however, that the so-called “silly name effect” was more prevalent in capital city suburbs than in regional areas likely because there is more supply in Melbourne.

Similarly, the price difference was greater among cheaper properties than higher-priced real estate.

What else effects house prices may surprise you

The market value of a property is determined by a number of different factors…and sometimes the reasons can be just as crazy as street names with a hint of innuendo.

Some of these reasons include:

• The size of the property and land.
• The location, including postcode and the proximity to amenities, transport, schools and more.
• The number of bathrooms, bedrooms and car spaces.
• General market appetite such as capital city buyers being to compete for their slice of a shoebox in a prime metro location.

Check out our guide on How To Value A Property and try our Postcode Calculator to find out if you may be knocked for a home loan.

If you’re still struggling to save the deposit required to buy your dream home, we may be able to help.

We’re experts in no deposit home loans and unusual properties.

Call 1300 889 743 or complete our free assessment form today.