How the Median Property Figure Is Calculated

The property section of a community report shows a median value, calculated from the sale prices or assessed values recorded for that community over the relevant time period.

Why median, not average

A median is the middle value when every recorded price or assessment is sorted from lowest to highest. An average (mean) adds every value together and divides by the count, which means a small number of very high or very low sales can pull the figure a long way from what a typical property actually sold for or was assessed at. A median is generally more representative of a typical property in an area, particularly in smaller communities with fewer transactions.

Why the figure can shift between updates

• New sales or assessments entering the dataset change which value sits in the middle
• Small communities with few transactions can see a larger swing from a single new sale than a large, high-volume community would
• Where source data is updated on a fixed cycle (annually, for example), figures reflect the most recent published cycle, not necessarily the current market moment

What the figure does and does not include

Figures are filtered to residential property transactions where this distinction is available in the source data, to avoid a small number of large commercial or portfolio transactions distorting a residential median. Where a filter of this kind is applied, the report reflects standard residential property only.