BH13, the Poole postcode district covering the Sandbanks peninsula and Canford Cliffs, sold 185 residential properties in 2025 for an average (mean) price of £807,866, according to HM Land Registry sale records. The median price — the middle sale, with half above and half below — was £500,000. That's a £307,866 gap: the average ran 62% above what a typical buyer in the postcode actually paid.
No other postcode district across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) comes close to that spread. This piece breaks down all 20 BCP postcode districts by their 2025 average-versus-median gap, using category-A (standard, arm's-length residential) sales from HM Land Registry's Price Paid Data.
Why the average and the typical sale diverge so sharply in BH13
Of BH13's 185 recorded 2025 sales, 126 (68%) were flats, which averaged £471,830 — reasonably close to the district's £500,000 median. But 45 sales (24%) were detached houses, which averaged £1,785,046, including the single highest recorded sale in the postcode at £3,811,500.
That relatively small slice of high-value detached sales does most of the work. Forty-nine of BH13's 185 sales (27%) were at £1 million or more. Strip those out, and the average for the remaining 136 sales falls to £443,479 — actually below the postcode's own £500,000 median. In other words, the "average" figure most people would quote for BH13 is driven almost entirely by a minority of sales that most buyers in the postcode never come close to paying.
The full BCP postcode ladder
Ranked by the size of the gap between average and median price, largest first (2025, category-A sales, HM Land Registry):
| Postcode district | Town | Sales (2025) | Median price | Average price | Gap | Average ÷ median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BH13 | Poole (Sandbanks/Canford Cliffs) | 185 | £500,000 | £807,866 | £307,866 | 1.62× |
| BH14 | Poole | 419 | £470,000 | £584,978 | £114,978 | 1.24× |
| BH4 | Bournemouth | 199 | £264,000 | £341,420 | £77,420 | 1.29× |
| BH5 | Bournemouth | 167 | £230,000 | £296,443 | £66,443 | 1.29× |
| BH6 | Bournemouth | 399 | £397,000 | £448,180 | £51,180 | 1.13× |
| BH2 | Bournemouth | 153 | £200,000 | £239,565 | £39,565 | 1.20× |
| BH21 | Wimborne | 77 | £455,000 | £494,548 | £39,548 | 1.09× |
| BH18 | Broadstone | 180 | £475,000 | £510,941 | £35,941 | 1.08× |
| BH8 | Bournemouth | 322 | £300,000 | £335,712 | £35,712 | 1.12× |
| BH23 | Christchurch | 870 | £415,000 | £448,782 | £33,782 | 1.08× |
| BH7 | Bournemouth | 167 | £422,000 | £447,280 | £25,280 | 1.06× |
| BH1 | Bournemouth | 305 | £220,000 | £235,768 | £15,768 | 1.07× |
| BH11 | Bournemouth/Poole | 260 | £305,000 | £317,522 | £12,522 | 1.04× |
| BH10 | Bournemouth | 258 | £349,000 | £358,763 | £9,763 | 1.03× |
| BH17 | Poole | 334 | £315,000 | £323,471 | £8,471 | 1.03× |
| BH3 | Bournemouth | 65 | £635,000 | £643,212 | £8,212 | 1.01× |
| BH16 | Poole | 32 | £272,500 | £278,618 | £6,118 | 1.02× |
| BH12 | Poole (Parkstone) | 464 | £322,750 | £323,990 | £1,240 | 1.00× |
| BH15 | Poole | 543 | £316,000 | £317,090 | £1,090 | 1.00× |
| BH9 | Bournemouth | 404 | £350,000 | £345,980 | −£4,020 | 0.99× |
(Districts with fewer than 20 recorded 2025 sales are excluded to avoid unstable averages.)
BH3 shows the opposite pattern
BH3 is worth a second look because it sits at the other end of the price ladder, not just the gap ladder. Across BCP's 20 postcode districts, BH3 recorded the single highest median price of any of them in 2025 — £635,000 across 65 sales — yet its average (£643,212) sits just £8,212 above that.
Only 12 of BH3's 65 sales (18%) reached £1 million, against 27% in BH13, and its highest recorded sale (£1,650,000) is well under half of BH13's ceiling. A market that's consistently expensive produces almost no gap between average and median. A market that mixes a large base of ordinary flats with a small tail of multi-million-pound houses — BH13's pattern — produces a large one.
Why this matters for budgeting a purchase
The gap isn't just a statistical curiosity — it changes what a buyer should expect to pay in tax. Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is calculated on the actual price paid, not the postcode average, and the two numbers produce very different bills in BH13.
A buyer budgeting off a headline "average house price of £807,866 in BH13" would be pricing in an SDLT bill of £30,393 (HMRC rates, England, standard residential purchase). A buyer targeting the postcode's typical purchase — the £500,000 median — faces an SDLT bill of £15,000, exactly half as much. Two buyers looking at the same postcode, quoting the same "average" figure from a headline, could be budgeting for stamp duty bills more than £15,000 apart depending on which number they actually anchor to.
The practical takeaway: a postcode average is a poor stand-in for what any specific purchase will cost, especially in a district with a wide price spread. Running the actual figure for a specific property — via Homecost's stamp duty calculator or the BH13 True Cost page — gives a buyer their own number rather than a skewed postcode-wide one.
Method and caveats
Figures use HM Land Registry Price Paid Data category-A transactions (standard, full-value residential sales; category B — repossessions, transfers under power of sale, and non-arm's-length transfers — is excluded to avoid distorting the market picture). "Average" refers to the arithmetic mean; "median" is the middle value when all 2025 sales in a district are ranked by price. Council Tax across the whole of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is set at a single Band D rate of £2,435.58 for 2026–27 (gov.uk), so it does not vary by postcode district the way sale prices do — see Homecost's guide to Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch house prices for the borough-wide picture and the town-by-town cost comparison for how BCP's three main towns compare on price and running costs. For a full worked example at the BH13 median price point, see the true cost of buying a £500,000 home.
This is general information based on published transaction data, not financial or tax advice. Stamp Duty rates and thresholds can change, and individual circumstances (first-time buyer status, additional-property surcharges, non-UK residency) affect the amount due. Speak to a qualified adviser before acting on any property purchase decision.
More data-led analysis like this is available in Homecost's market analysis section.