The limits to median house price data

Median house prices are a useful tool for analysing growth in the property market and looking at which suburbs are doing well. However, it is important to remember that median house prices can be skewed by a few particularly low or particularly high sales in an area.  So breaking down the prices within a suburb according to whether the property sold was a house or unit and how many bedrooms it had can give a more detailed and useful snapshot of what is happening.  

For example, while the median price of a one-bedroom unit in Melbourne was $340,000 in September, it was $355,500 in inner Melbourne and only $240,000 in outer Melbourne.  

Checking out particular suburbs shows even more variation.  For example, a one-bedroom unit in Collingwood had a median price of $335,500 in September – $20,000 below the overall inner Melbourne price.  But just across the street in neighbouring Fitzroy, a one-bedroom unit had a median price of $390,000 and a one-bedroom unit in nearby Abbotsford's median was $370,000.  

Research is essential for investors looking for the highest rental yields or capital growth, for downsizers wanting to free up home equity but stay in the same neighbourhood and for those feeling squeezed out of their preferred suburbs.  

Suburb-by-suburb information about median prices according to property type and number of bedrooms for the 12 months to September is now available free on the REIV website at reiv.com.au/BedroomMedians.

Investors will be particularly interested to know that this also includes weekly median rents, gross rental yield and five-year annual capital growth.  Simply click on a suburb and all the information about it will appear.