Median price
The median price is the middle price when all the sales in an area are lined up from cheapest to dearest. A few unusual sales cannot pull it far.
The median price is the middle value when every sale in an area or period is put in order from lowest to highest. Half the sales were at or below it and half at or above it.
House Price Monitor uses the median for every postcode district and street. It is a better guide to a typical home than the average price when there are only a few sales.
How it is worked out
Line up the sale prices from cheapest to dearest and take the one in the middle. With an even number of sales there are two middle prices, and the median is halfway between them.
As an example, take five sales of £210,000, £240,000, £255,000, £270,000 and £900,000. The median is £255,000. The mean of the same five sales is £375,000, pulled up by the single large sale. The figures are only for illustration.
Why medians suit house prices
House prices are lopsided. Most homes in an area sell within a fairly narrow range, but a small number sell for far more. A mean is pulled towards those expensive sales. A median is not, so it stays closer to what a typical home sold for.
This matters most in small areas. A street may have three or four sales in a year, and one large house would move the mean a long way. Our guide to average and median house prices explains the difference in full.
What the median does not tell you
A median says nothing about the spread of prices. Two postcodes can have the same median while one has prices close together and the other a very wide range.
It also moves when the mix of homes sold changes. If more flats than houses sell one year, the median can fall even though no home lost value. Comparing one property type at a time helps, and the House Price Index uses a mix-adjusted method for this reason.
Always check how many sales sit behind a median. A median of three sales is far less reliable than one of three hundred. Comparing streets and postcodes covers this.
On House Price Monitor
The medians on postcode and street pages count every house and flat sale in the Land Registry data, including buy-to-let, company purchases and repossessions. They leave out land, mixed-use and other non-residential sales, and transfers under £10,000. You can see the median for your area on the postcodes page.
| Also called | Middle value |
| Used for | Typical sold price in an area |
| Affected by one very high sale | Very little |
| Affected by property mix | Yes |
Related terms
Average price · Mix-adjusted · Comparables · Property type · Price Paid Data