Is there a housing bubble in the Boston, Massachusetts area? If so, is it bursting?

This graph shows 20 years of residential real estate prices...

Boston Metro Area House Prices

The above chart estimates the market value of today's median-priced Boston, Massachusetts metropolitan area house from 1987 until present. The red line represents inflation-adjusted house prices. The blue line represents nominal house prices.

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Data sources and methodology:

The chart on this page estimates the market value of today's median-priced house over a 20-year period. The trailing nominal prices are derived by taking the recent median price of existing single-family homes, as reported by the National Association of Realtors, and discounting it by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. The S&P/Case-Shiller HPI is a "constant quality" index, so even though houses are built larger today than they were 20 years ago, this graph automatically adjusts for this variation. The trailing real prices are then derived by adjusting the nominal prices by the CPI - All items less shelter.


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Charts and spreadsheets are in the public domain. You are free to copy and modify them.

This Web site was created by James Harrison Parsons.