PS, the OFHEO data has its weaknesses, as you know: it only tracks the prices of resale homes, not new homes, and is limited to homes financed via conforming mortgages, i.e., relatively inexpensive homes (it does not track homes financed via jumbo mortgages). However, the OFHEO series is particularly valuable as it gives a clean index of price changes, and is less susceptible to reflecting price increases due solely to increases in sizes of homes in recent years.
I’m not sure what price data Campbell used, as he didn’t reveal such in his book, per memory; I assume that he used DataQuick median sales price, not the OFHEO price index. And, his data is monthly; I used annual data, which smooths the peaks and valleys (but eliminates the horrid seasonality of the monthly data). So, that could account for the differences.
