The Median is the middle value in a list of values and differs from the average value. It's useful in real estate because sale prices at either end of the spectrum can artificially skew values and distort averages. An example: Five homes in an area sell for the following prices: $400,000, $425,000, $435,000, $450,000, and $570,000. The median value in this list is $435,000 while the average sale price for the same list is $456,000. The median price gives a better indication of the expected sales prices for the area because the average value is skewed higher by the sale at $570,000.