Local House Price Indexes: 1982-1991

Abstract

We begin with a description of three house price panel data sets for the period 1982 to 1991. Next, we estimate a model that assumes the three sources are derived from an underlying unobserved price series, and we construct composite indexes that report house prices for 135 locations. These series can be used either as explanatory variables in studies of household formation, housing demand, and migration or to test models of the determinants of spatial and intertemporal variations in house prices. Finally, we construct regional series (based, alternatively, on census and Salomon Brothers regions) and two national aggregates and describe their movements. Our series are compared to other local, regional, and national series.