The above chart estimates the market value of today's median-priced Providence, Rhode Island metropolitan area house from 1976 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:
- Latest quarterly, median, existing, single-family home price provided by the National Association of Realtors.
- Trailing house price index data provided by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.
- Inflation data provided by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The chart on this page estimates the market value of today's median-priced house over a 30-year period. The trailing nominal prices are derived by taking the recent median house price reported by the National Association of Realtors and discounting it by the OFHEO House Price Index. The OFHEO HPI is a "constant quality" index, so even though houses are built larger today than they were 30 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.