Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) for All Homes Including Single-Family Residences, Condos, and CO-OPs in the District of Columbia/Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average*332.307

Source: Zillow  

Release: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)  

Units:  Dollars, Smoothed Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:  Monthly

The Zillow Home Value Index or ZHVI is a smoothed, seasonally adjusted measure of the typical home value and market changes across a given region and housing type. It reflects the typical value for homes in the 35th to 65th percentile range.

Home types captured in ZHVI include single-family residences, condos, and co-ops.

A single-family home is a standalone, detached house used as a single dwelling unit, meaning a residence for one family, person or household. It has its own private entrance and direct street access, and is built on its own land, usually with additional yard space.

An owner-occupied apartment is generally referred to as a condominium or condo. The public common areas are jointly-owned and usually managed by a homeowners association (HOA).

A cooperative, or co-op, is a type of housing that is actually a corporation. A co-op resembles a condominium but the unit owners do not own their unit outright. Each resident owns a share in a corporation that entitles them to live in one of the units under a lease agreement.

For more information on types of houses, check out Zillow's types of houses article. For information about ZHVI, check out their user guide. For more information about methodology check out this overview of ZHVI and a deep-dive into its methodology.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics  

Release: Consumer Price Index  

Units:  Index 1982-1984=100, Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:  Monthly

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items (CPIAUCSL) is a price index of a basket of goods and services paid by urban consumers. Percent changes in the price index measure the inflation rate between any two time periods. The most common inflation metric is the percent change from one year ago. It can also represent the buying habits of urban consumers. This particular index includes roughly 88 percent of the total population, accounting for wage earners, clerical workers, technical workers, self-employed, short-term workers, unemployed, retirees, and those not in the labor force.

The CPIs are based on prices for food, clothing, shelter, and fuels; transportation fares; service fees (e.g., water and sewer service); and sales taxes. Prices are collected monthly from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 retail establishments across 87 urban areas. To calculate the index, price changes are averaged with weights representing their importance in the spending of the particular group. The index measures price changes (as a percent change) from a predetermined reference date. In addition to the original unadjusted index distributed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also releases a seasonally adjusted index. The unadjusted series reflects all factors that may influence a change in prices. However, it can be very useful to look at the seasonally adjusted CPI, which removes the effects of seasonal changes, such as weather, school year, production cycles, and holidays.

The CPI can be used to recognize periods of inflation and deflation. Significant increases in the CPI within a short time frame might indicate a period of inflation, and significant decreases in CPI within a short time frame might indicate a period of deflation. However, because the CPI includes volatile food and oil prices, it might not be a reliable measure of inflationary and deflationary periods. For a more accurate detection, the core CPI (CPILFESL) is often used. When using the CPI, please note that it is not applicable to all consumers and should not be used to determine relative living costs. Additionally, the CPI is a statistical measure vulnerable to sampling error since it is based on a sample of prices and not the complete average.

For more information on the CPI, see the Handbook of Methods, the release notes and announcements, and the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).