The Measurement of House Prices

9 Pages Posted: 27 Apr 2005

See all articles by Gregory Thwaites

Gregory Thwaites

Bank of England - Monetary Analysis

Robert Wood

Independent

Abstract

House prices are an important consideration in assessing macroeconomic developments in the United Kingdom. But the special characteristics of housing - heterogeneity, infrequent sale and negotiated prices - give rise to important issues that complicate their measurement. There are several valid concepts of house prices - such as the average transaction price, the price of a typical house and the housing stock deflator - each of which is useful for a different purpose. Users must therefore be careful to match the measure they use with the concept of house prices they are interested in. Furthermore, all the available measures are volatile, so high-frequency changes in house price inflation should not be expected to persist.

Suggested Citation

Thwaites, Gregory and Wood, Robert, The Measurement of House Prices. Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Spring 2003, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=707043

Gregory Thwaites (Contact Author)

Bank of England - Monetary Analysis ( email )

Threadneedle Street
London EC2R 8AH
United Kingdom

Robert Wood

Independent

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