I think that prices in terms of years is very useful for a quick reference, especially for people who don’t follow the market like we do on this board.
With new applications like zillow and sdlookup, a potential buyer can look at a resale and say “if it’s over 2003 prices, then it’s too much,” or “if it’s at 2002 prices, then it’s a pretty good deal.”
When talking to friends, it’s easy to talk to them in terms of price years. I find that people can easily put that into perspective. On the other hand, talk to them about rent, holding costs, opportunity costs and you lose them within 2 minutes.