Mission Statement:
Ensure that the housing GSEs operate in a safe and sound manner so that they serve as a reliable source of liquidity and funding for housing finance and community investment.
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HOUSE PRICE INDEX FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
(updated February 26, 2013)
(All)
1. What is the value of the HPI?
2. What transactions are covered in the HPI?
3. How is the HPI computed?
4. How often is the HPI published?
5. How is the HPI updated?
6. How do I interpret “four-quarter,” “one-year,” “annual,” and “one-quarter” price changes?
7. How are Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and Metropolitan Divisions defined and what criteria are used to determine whether an MSA index is published?
8. Does FHFA use the December 2009 revised Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and Divisions?
9. What geographic areas are covered by the House Price Index?
10. What is the methodology used by FHFA in computing the Index?
11. How does the HPI differ from the S&P/Case-Shiller® Home Price indexes?
12. How does the House Price Index differ from the Census Bureau’s Constant Quality House Price Index (CQHPI)?
13. Where can I access MSA index numbers and standard errors for each year and quarter?
14. What role do Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play in the House Price Index?
15. Why is the HPI based on Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgages?
16. When are the indexes normalized in the downloadable ASCII data?
17. Is the HPI adjusted for inflation?
18. How do I use the manipulatable data (in TXT files) on the Web site to calculate appreciation rates?
19. How is FHFA's House Price Index constructed for MSAs? The Web site says that you use the 2008 definitions based on the 2000 Census to define each MSA. Is this true for all time periods covered by each index? Or do the definitions change over time as the Census expanded its MSA definitions? For example, if the definition of an MSA added three counties between 1980 and 2000, would the value of the index in 1980 cover the three counties that were not included in the 1980 SMSA definition?
20. How can the House Price Index for an MSA be linked to zip codes within that MSA?
21. How and why is the HPI revised each quarter?
22. What transaction dates are used in estimating the index?
23. Are foreclosure sales included in the HPI?
24. How are the monthly House Price Indexes calculated?
25. How are the Census Division and United States House Price Indexes formed?
26. What weights are used in forming the Census Division and United States Indexes?
27. For those house price indexes that are seasonally-adjusted, what approach is used in performing the seasonal adjustment?
28. How is the Expanded-Data HPI calculated?
29. What is the “distress-free” index?