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And, according to the article "the CPI does not directly measure the prices of investments like stocks or the purchase price of homes." So they have a category

And, according to the article "the CPI does not directly measure the prices of investments like stocks or the purchase price of homes." So they have a category called "Housing" which presumably does not include the price of a home. Very informative and helpful infographic.

snapplebobapple 3y ago
Its owners equivalent rent i believe, which makes sense academically but not practically. When you are using it to gauge whether your monetary policy is causing inflation you should be looking at asset prices at least as hard as consumable prices and you shiuld be extremely wary doing substitutions.
s1artibartfast 3y ago
It counts the cost of rent. If you buy a house for far more than the value of rent, you are making a speculative investment. Rent is half my mortgage for an equivalent house. It wouldn't be realistic to call my mortgage the cost of shelter.
- medvezhenok 3y ago
  I think that’s actually the big problem with the CPI - it treats a house purchase as a speculative investment, rather than a separate category of housing on equal footing with rent. I think the median housing payment (mortgage + interest) should be included in the CPI. As someone who is looking to start a family, renting vs owning is not simply a financial question, they are totally different goods which are not interchangeable
  - s1artibartfast 3y ago
    I totally agree that they are not the same. However, the CPI isn't supposed to capture everything. If someone wants to talk about the cost of buying and homeownership rates, there is tons of data on that to point at.
- jclardy 3y ago
  Do you live in a slow real estate market? In the area I'm in, rent is basically equal or slightly higher than a 30 year mortgage with 20% down - if you can find a house to buy in the first place.
  - s1artibartfast 3y ago
    Bay area. It is a hot real estate area, hence the high purchase price
- halostatue 3y ago
  In Toronto, our mortgage is ½ to ⅔ of the equivalent rent these days. The startup costs for it, though, are killer — and most people's mortgages starting today would be closer to ¾ to ⅞ of rent, not counting the cash downpayment required.

snapplebobapple 3y ago

Its owners equivalent rent i believe, which makes sense academically but not practically. When you are using it to gauge whether your monetary policy is causing inflation you should be looking at asset prices at least as hard as consumable prices and you shiuld be extremely wary doing substitutions.

s1artibartfast 3y ago

It counts the cost of rent. If you buy a house for far more than the value of rent, you are making a speculative investment. Rent is half my mortgage for an equivalent house. It wouldn't be realistic to call my mortgage the cost of shelter.

medvezhenok 3y ago
I think that’s actually the big problem with the CPI - it treats a house purchase as a speculative investment, rather than a separate category of housing on equal footing with rent. I think the median housing payment (mortgage + interest) should be included in the CPI. As someone who is looking to start a family, renting vs owning is not simply a financial question, they are totally different goods which are not interchangeable
- s1artibartfast 3y ago
  I totally agree that they are not the same. However, the CPI isn't supposed to capture everything. If someone wants to talk about the cost of buying and homeownership rates, there is tons of data on that to point at.
jclardy 3y ago
Do you live in a slow real estate market? In the area I'm in, rent is basically equal or slightly higher than a 30 year mortgage with 20% down - if you can find a house to buy in the first place.
- s1artibartfast 3y ago
  Bay area. It is a hot real estate area, hence the high purchase price
halostatue 3y ago
In Toronto, our mortgage is ½ to ⅔ of the equivalent rent these days. The startup costs for it, though, are killer — and most people's mortgages starting today would be closer to ¾ to ⅞ of rent, not counting the cash downpayment required.