IMHO, THE BEST SOURCE OF HOUSING DATA IS THE AEI

June 20, 2019 – I have watched the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) develop their housing research over the past decade.  Major organizations provide them with all of the data that is out there and AEI simply analyzes and reports what it says.  Unlike NAR, no bias in the research and reporting.  The AEI is 100% transparent in how they arrive at their indices and use the data.  I encourage everyone to start using this as their definitive source for information on the housing market.  The following is directly from AEI (as the links might not work in me cutting and pasting their announcement, you can go to their website at www.AEI.org):

AEI Housing Center analyzes housing markets in the 60 largest US metropolitan areas

Housing markets are inherently local, making them notoriously difficult to analyze due to the lack of reliable data at the local level. The second quarterly release of a new dataset from the AEI Housing Center aims to fill this void by analyzing housing market data for the 60 largest US metropolitan areas, as well as for the nation as a whole. The current dataset looks at housing data through 2019:Q1.

AEI Housing Center Codirector Edward Pinto and Senior Research Analyst Tobias Peter explain “Our goal is to provide the public, media, and decision makers with accurate and reliable metrics to assess the state of their local housing market in near-real time. A well-informed market place and its participants will aid in promoting sustainable homeownership.

Among the national Housing Market Indicators for 2019:Q1:
  • Rate of house price appreciation (HPA): 3.8%
  • Mortgage risk index: 12.1%
  • Share of buyers of entry level homes: 57%
  • Average sale price for entry level homes: $194,000
  • Share of new construction sales (compared to all home sales): 10.5%
The Housing Market Indicators for the 60 largest US metropolitan areas, along with all associated data, are available on an interactive website here.

This was made possible by AEI’s new merged property and mortgage financing national dataset, which consists of nearly 35 million home purchase transactions.

The data are updated quarterly. The next release of Housing Market Indicators, which will analyze housing data for 2019:Q2, is scheduled for September.
Edward J. Pinto
Codirector, AEI Housing Center
240-423-2848