A district median is a good way to compare places and a poor way to price a property. It answers "what does a typical sale here look like", not "what is this house worth" — and the gap between those two questions is where people lose money.
buying
What a district median price can and cannot tell you about one house
A district median is a good way to compare places and a poor way to price a property.
- 1 min read
- Updated 21 September 2026
Part 1 of 4
Good and bad uses of a district median
| Use it for | Do not use it for |
|---|---|
| Comparing two districts on the same basis | Pricing your specific house |
| Seeing the direction of travel over years | Judging a single sale as over or under priced |
| Sanity-checking an agent's suggested price | Any decision where the property type differs from the local mix |
| Understanding affordability in an area | Anything needing the condition or size of one property |
Sample size decides how much a median is worth. A district with 600 recorded sales in a year gives a stable figure; one with 12 gives a number that can swing by a fifth because two large houses happened to sell.
It also depends heavily on what sold. If a block of new flats completes in one quarter, the median falls without a single existing home losing value — the mix changed, not the market.
Part 2 of 4
Check it yourself, free
Sold prices for any postcode — no account, no email wall.
Part 3 of 4