The Case-Shiller home price index is the most
accurate measure of aggregate prices, and as such it is great
for long-term comparisons. It also provides a useful
distinction by breaking the price data into three tiers of
expensiveness.
The downside is that numbers are very “stale.” The recent September
release, for example, only has price data through July, and that
figure actually is calculated from sales that took place as early as
May.
Because I haven’t done much in the way of long-term comparisons, and
because there was little of interest in the tiered data (all three
price tiers have been acting very similar to one another), I haven’t
done a CS update in a while. Let’s check in on the most recent
numbers.
The recent increase in prices that I’ve been occasionally
documenting is clear in this chart of prices since the
post-crash (aggregate) bottom in 2009. For the year-to-date
throguh July, the aggregate index is up a bit over 5 percent, and
the low, mid, and high price tiers are all up similar amounts:
