Researching locations

Understanding median prices

What a suburb median actually tells you, how it's calculated, and why sales volume matters as much as the number itself.

What is a median house price?

Worked example (illustrative numbers, not real sales): five houses sell in a suburb in one quarter. The median is the middle price (the third of five). The average adds all five prices and divides by five. Replace the highest sale with one unusually expensive sale and only the average moves.

That is why a median is less affected than an average by one very high or very low sale. It also means a median says nothing about the range of prices behind it.

Why do websites show different medians for the same suburb?

Three ordinary differences explain most gaps. Data basis: Victoria's Property Sales Report uses sales recorded at settlement (Valuer-General Victoria / Land Use Victoria, verified 29 Jul 2026), while another site may work from asking prices, contract dates or its own sample. Period: the official quarterly edition covers a rolling 15-month window, so it can differ from a figure for the last three or twelve months. Property type: the official report gives medians for houses, units and vacant land, so a figure that blends houses and units is not comparable with a house-only median. Check all three before treating two numbers as a disagreement.

Why can a median move when no home has changed in value?

A median describes the sales that happened in the period, not every home in the suburb. If a quarter happens to include more larger or newer homes, or more sales from one street, the median can rise or fall even though no individual home was repriced. The smaller the number of sales, the more a change in the mix can move the figure, which is why the sales count matters (see below). For a suburb's own recent median, see its Delora suburb page.

How Victoria's official medians are calculated

The Victorian Property Sales Report is compiled from information lodged at every property sale settlement (Valuer-General Victoria / Land Use Victoria, verified 29 Jul 2026). Quarterly editions cover median sale prices by suburb for houses, units and vacant land over a rolling 15-month period; annual editions cover yearly medians over a 10-year period across Victoria's 79 municipalities. A median is the middle value of all sales in the period — half sold for more, half for less — not an average, and not a valuation of any specific property.

Rent medians use a different, narrower base

Victoria's Rental Report calculates median weekly rent from all new rental lettings in the quarter — not existing tenancies — using rental bond lodgement data, and excludes student housing, rooming houses, caravans and share-house arrangements with multiple bonds (Homes Victoria / Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, verified 29 Jul 2026). This means a suburb's rent median describes what's being asked for new leases right now, not what every tenant in the suburb currently pays.

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Why sales volume matters as much as the number

A median calculated from a handful of sales in a quarter can swing sharply from one unusual sale, while a median from hundreds of sales is far more stable. Always check the sales count behind a median, not just the figure itself — Delora flags this on suburb pages where the underlying sample is small.

Practical checklist

Reading a suburb's price data

• Check whether you're looking at a house, unit or land median — don't compare across types
• Check the sales count or sample size behind the median
• Check the data period — a rolling 15-month figure is not the same as "right now"
• Treat the median as suburb-level context, not a valuation of any specific property

Questions for a professional

• How does this specific property's asking price compare with recent comparable sales, not just the suburb median?

Official resources

• Victorian property sales statistics
• Victorian rental report

Sources and methodology

• Property sales statistics — Valuer-General Victoria / Land Use Victoria (retrieved 29 Jul 2026). Reuse terms: see the publisher's site
• Rental report — Homes Victoria / Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (retrieved 29 Jul 2026). Reuse terms: see the publisher's site
• What does rent cost in Victoria? — Homes Victoria (retrieved 29 Jul 2026). Reuse terms: see the publisher's site

Figures on this page are drawn from Delora's local knowledge graph, refreshed from these primary sources and checked for changes on a regular schedule. If a figure here looks out of date, the official source above is always the authority — please let us know.