Just read this from Realty Times: Battle of the Warring Housing Price Indexes
by Kenneth R. Harney that compares the competing OFHEO (the Government) and Shiller index and maybe why they are so different.
"What's going on here? For starters, the two surveys are measuring very different things-even if news reports don't bother to tell you that. The Case-Shiller index has no data whatsoever from 13 states and incomplete data from 29 states. It does not cover condominiums or refinancings … but it does cover houses with subprime and jumbo loans.
The OFHEO study covers every state -- and that's very important because some of the strongest state and local housing markets today are in areas missed or incompletely covered by Case-Shiller. "
I mention this only because the Shiller data is what you see quoted all the time. Especially by the Bubblistas.
