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About REIV data

Methodology and Key Terms

What is a median price?

The median price is the middle price in a series of sales.  For example, if 15 sales are recorded in a suburb and arranged in order from the lowest to the highest value, the eighth sale price is the median price.  In the case where there is an even number of sales in a series, the median is the average of the middle two prices.

Why do you use median prices?

Median prices are used rather than average prices because median prices are unaffected by a few unusually high or low prices, making them a more accurate indicator of true market activity. 

Median prices are a guide to market activity, and the REIV does not intend for median price measures to be regarded as a valuation tool.  The assessment of a property’s value is a job for a qualified professional who possesses the knowledge, experience and comparable sales information required to do so.

Why do you have three median pries?

The REIV provides three series of median prices to provide a better understanding of price movements than a single, original median price. The three series are original, seasonally adjusted, and trend median prices.

What is a seasonally adjusted median price?

A seasonally adjusted median price takes into account seasonal, calendar-related movements. For example, median prices generally increase in December quarters and falls in March quarters. To identify and remove the seasonal effects of the median price data, the REIV has run through historical median price data from 1992 for metropolitan and regional houses and from 2002 for regional units.

What is a trend median price?

A trend median price is the long term movement of the median price and is considered as the underlying direction of the median price. A five-term Henderson moving average was adopted to calculate the trend movement. Like the seasonally adjusted median price, the REIV has calculated the trend median price using historical median price data from 1992 for metropolitan and regional houses and from 2002 for regional units.

Why do you revise your median prices?

The REIV continuously collects sales data from its Members and revises medians (and the clearance rate) to ensure accuracy. The median price for the most recent quarter is the preliminary one and is revised in three months time and again in a year.

What are upper and lower quartile points?

The lower quartile is the point where one quarter of the sales are of a lesser value, and the upper quartile is the point where one quarter of the sales are of a higher value.

How is the clearance rate calculated?

Click here  to read about how the clearance rate is calculated.

How do you gather your data?

The REIV gathers most of its data online from agents submitting their sales results electronically and it also has a dedicated call centre to collect property sales results at the time of contract. The sales results submitted to the REIV include residential, commercial, industrial and rural sales results from around the state. 

Is your data accurate?

All our data is checked for accuracy and questionable sales are either verified with the selling agent or excluded from analysis.

Year to date results compared to weekly reports

The REIV sales database is a live one and is subject to ongoing revision. Weekly reports are a snapshot in time and should not be used to calcuate a total yearly clearance rate.

Why are only areas with 25, 30 or 50 sales included in snapshots?

If we use a median price that has been taken from a limited sample, the data will tend to be more volatile from one period to the next, and we are therefore cautious about making a broad conclusion about the market from such figures.

Which regions are ‘inner’, ‘middle’ and ‘outer’ Melbourne?

For the purposes of our analysis we define:

  • ‘inner’ as being within 10km of the CBD;
  • ‘middle’ as being between 10km and 20km of the CBD; and
  • ‘outer’ as being more than 20km from the CBD.

Which areas are included in ‘metropolitan Melbourne’?

for the purpose of our analysis we define ‘metropolitan Melbourne’ as those suburbs contained within the following 31 municipalities:

  • Banyule
  • Bayside
  • Boroondara
  • Brimbank
  • Cardinia
  • Casey
  • Darebin
  • Frankston
  • Glen Eira
  • Greater Dandenong
  • Hobsons Bay
  • Hume
  • Kingston
  • Knox
  • Manningham
  • Maribyrnong
  • Maroondah
  • Melbourne
  • Melton
  • Monash
  • Moonee Valley
  • Moreland
  • Mornington Peninsula
  • Nillumbik
  • Port Phillip
  • Stonnington
  • Whitehorse
  • Whittlesea
  • Wyndham
  • Yarra
  • Yarra Ranges

 

Property classifications for median prices

House front red brick


The REIV provides median prices in two categories: houses and units/apartments. This requires that choices are made regarding dwelling types and the categories into which they belong, as there is considerable variety in styles and designs.

Property that falls under the ‘house’ classification includes:

  • detached houses
  • terraced houses
  • semi-detached houses
  • residential warehouse conversions
  • holiday houses
  • duplexes

Property that falls under the ‘units & apartments’ classification includes:

  • flats
  • units
  • apartments
  • townhouses
  • villas
  • bed-sitters

    Sales results terms


    The REIV distinguishes several sales methods that are often abbreviated in publications. The most common acronyms used to denote the type of sale or result is detailed below. 

    Auction-related acronyms include: 

    • SB (sold before auction) whereby a property is sold prior to the scheduled auction;
    • SO (auction sale) whereby a property is sold on the day of the auction whether it be at the auction itself or afterwards during the same day;
    • SA (sold after auction) whereby a property is sold on the following day of the auction (note that a property that sells two or more days after the scheduled auction becomes classified as a 'private sale')
    • PI (passed in at auction) whereby the property is passed in on the day of the scheduled auction either on a public bid or no bids; and
    • VB (passed in vendor bid) whereby a property is passed in on a vendor bid at the scheduled auction.

    Other acronyms include: 

    • PS (private sale) which refers to private sales
    • T (sale by sender) whereby the property is sold under a Tender sales authority;
    • EOI (expression of interest) whereby a written offer is required by a specific date but is less formal than a tender process and is sold under a General or Exclusive sale authority; and

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