Median is the middle value in a set of data in numerical order. The median house price is the midway point of all the houses/units sold at market price over a set period. The reason the median price is utilised rather than the mean is mainly that it is a more accurate indicator of the market, as it reflects the sample size being investigated. An example would be, if test scores out of 30 were 17, 22, 18, 29, 30, 19, 10, and 13, the median score would be 18, since it was the middle number when results were sorted in numerical order. The article in question states that Melbourne renters may have to pay $50 more compared to a year ago, due to an increase in rent prices. It declares that the median rent rose $10 in the December quarter of the previous year to a median price of $410 for houses and $380 for units, despite high volume of new apartments. It also claims that the proportion of vacant houses has dropped from 1.7% to …show more content…
These numbers originally came from the Domain Group in their rental and house price report. Domain Group is a multi-platform property industry, which collaborates extensively with AllHomes, Review Property, and Star Weekly Publications, so we can trust that the research was completed with multiple inputs. The article has no evidence of this, or any research for that matter, but since the article did release the name of the group and their publication, so readers are able to do further reading. The numbers and figures used within the article are perplexing. The first sentence claims that tenants may have to pay an extra $50 on their rent a week, but lower in the article says later that the median rent rose $10 a week. To confirm whether this is a trustworthy publication, there is more information I need to know, including:
• If the median rent jumped $10 during the December quarter, how can it be stated that Melbourne renters will need an extra $50?
• If the median only rose $10, is it only those in high-price or low-price homes that have to pay the $50?
• Is the increase in vacancies related to the escalation in rent prices or a direct relation with the new apartments?
• How many houses and units were surveyed in order to find the median price?
It is conceivable that these questions were answered in the Domain Group’s publication mentioned in the introduction to the article, but