Indices · US home prices · yearly from 1890, monthly from 1953
US home prices since 1890
The longest record of American home prices, from Robert Shiller: in dollars as quoted and, on the switch, after inflation. Every boom and bust since 1890, and how homes compare with stocks.
Robert Shiller's index of existing single-family homes: one figure a year to 1952, monthly from 1953. Prices only: no rent, no upkeep.
Consumer prices rose ×43.9 over the same years.
Jul 2025 → Jul 2026, as quoted.
1907 → 1921. Yearly figures. Since 1953, monthly: −35.7%, Dec 2005 → Feb 2012.
Feb 2012 → May 2022. In July 2026: 3.7% below that peak.
$100 in January 1950 bought as much as $1,428.84 in October 2026: prices rose ×14.3.
Open the calculator×2.16 in 136 years, after inflationSince 1890 US home prices rose ×94.8 in dollars as quoted (3.4% a year), while consumer prices rose ×43.9. After inflation the same kind of home gained ×2.16: 0.57% a year.
9 busts after inflationSince 1890 real home prices fell 10% or more 9 times; the deepest fall, 40.0%, ran from 1907 to 1921. In dollars as quoted they fell that much only 6 times: 1894–1896, 1900–1901, 1904–1905, 1907–1909, 1925–1933 and 2006–2012.
Homes $2.16, stocks $7,393$1 in US home prices in 1890 was worth $2.16 after inflation by July 2026; $1 in the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested, $7,393 (without dividends, $31.7). A home also earns or saves a rent and costs upkeep, taxes and insurance, none of which a price index counts.
Home prices since 1890
The index in dollars as quoted, with 1890 = 100: one figure a year before 1953, monthly since. The dashed lines mark where it moves to a new source.
Homes vs stocks
What $1 became in US home prices and in the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested; gray dashes, the S&P 500 without dividends; red, consumer prices. A home also earns or saves a rent and costs upkeep, taxes and insurance, which the price index leaves out.
Booms and busts after inflation
Every fall of 10% or more in home prices after inflation, with the boom that came before it and what the same months looked like in dollars as quoted. In dollars home prices rarely fall; after inflation they often do.
| Peak | Boom before it | Bottom | Fall after inflation | In dollars as quoted | Fell for | Back at the peak, after inflation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1894 | +40.9%from 1891 | 1901 | −29.6% | −20.8% | 7 years | May 1987after 93.3 years |
| 1904 | +16.6%from 1901 | 1905 | −14.3% | −12.4% | 12 months | 1906after 2 years |
| 1907 | +25.3%from 1905 | 1921 | −40.0% | +28.9% | 14 years | 1947after 40 years |
| 1925 | +19.1%from 1921 | 1932 | −12.6% | −27.7% | 7 years | 1936after 11 years |
| 1940 | +19.6%from 1932 | 1942 | −16.2% | −5.3% | 2 years | 1945after 5 years |
| Jan 1955 | +69.7%from 1942 | Jul 1975 | −13.0% | +76.5% | 20.5 years | Jun 1978after 23.4 years |
| Aug 1979 | +20.2%from Jul 1975 | Oct 1982 | −12.2% | +16.8% | 3.2 years | Nov 1986after 7.2 years |
| Aug 1989 | +22.7%from Oct 1982 | Feb 1997 | −14.4% | +9.6% | 7.5 years | Aug 2000after 11 years |
| Dec 2005 | +74.7%from Feb 1997 | Feb 2012 | −35.7% | −25.6% | 6.2 years | Mar 2021after 15.2 years |
Since the bottom of February 2012 real home prices rose 78.2% to a peak in May 2022; in July 2026 they were 3.7% below it. A peak is the highest point before a real fall of 10% or more, the bottom the lowest one before a rise of 10% or more. Before 1953 the figures are yearly, so swings inside a year do not show. Data: Robert J. Shiller, US Home Prices 1890–Present; since 1975 S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller · inflation: US CPI, Shiller's data.
Home prices by decade
The index at the start of each decade, as quoted and after inflation (both with 1890 = 100), and consumer prices over the same years.
| Year | As quoted, 1890 = 100 | Change | After inflation, 1890 = 100 | Change | Consumer prices |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 100.0 | — | 100.0 | — | — |
| 1900 | 105.4 | +5.4% | 101.6 | +1.6% | +3.8% |
| 1910 | 121.0 | +14.9% | 93.1 | −8.3% | +25.3% |
| 1920 | 167.5 | +38.4% | 66.1 | −29.0% | +95.0% |
| 1930 | 156.1 | −6.8% | 69.5 | +5.2% | −11.4% |
| 1940 | 149.3 | −4.4% | 81.7 | +17.6% | −18.7% |
| 1950 | 326.9 | +119.0% | 105.9 | +29.6% | +69.1% |
| Jan 1960 | 427.0 | +30.6% | 110.9 | +4.7% | +24.7% |
| Jan 1970 | 532.2 | +24.6% | 107.2 | −3.4% | +29.0% |
| Jan 1980 | 1,221 | +129.5% | 119.5 | +11.5% | +105.8% |
| Jan 1990 | 2,151 | +76.2% | 128.5 | +7.6% | +63.8% |
| Jan 2000 | 2,811 | +30.7% | 126.8 | −1.4% | +32.5% |
| Jan 2010 | 4,076 | +45.0% | 143.2 | +13.0% | +28.4% |
| Jan 2020 | 5,971 | +46.5% | 176.2 | +23.0% | +19.1% |
| Jul 2026 | 9,482 | +58.8% | 216.1 | +22.7% | +29.4% |
Each change is against the row above; Jul 2026 is the latest month. Yearly figures to 1952, January from then on. Data: Robert J. Shiller, US Home Prices 1890–Present; since 1975 S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller · inflation: US CPI, Shiller's data.
How it is calculated
- Data: Robert J. Shiller, US Home Prices 1890–Present, the data of Figure 3.1 in his Irrational Exuberance (3rd edition, Princeton University Press, 2015), updated by him every month. Since 1975 it carries the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index (S&P Dow Jones Indices). US consumer prices and the S&P 500: his Online Data (Yale University).
- What it measures: the price of the same kind of existing single-family home over time, not the average price of the homes sold, which grew bigger and better. It is not what owning a home returned: no rent earned or saved, no upkeep, property taxes, insurance or costs of buying and selling, no mortgage.
- Several sources in one line, joined by Shiller: 1890–1933: Grebler, Blank and Winnick's index (yearly); 1934–1952: median prices in five US cities, compiled by Shiller (yearly); 1953–1974: the home purchase part of the US consumer price index (monthly); since 1975: the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, not seasonally adjusted (monthly).
- Yearly before 1953: one figure a year to 1952. Shiller dates it at the start of the year and converts it with January's consumer prices, and so does this page. The early figures move more roughly than the monthly ones.
- After inflation (the switch at the top of the page): each figure divided by US consumer prices of its month, with 1890 = 100: Shiller's real home price index. Consumer prices: the CPI-U from 1913, Warren and Pearson's wholesale price index before, as Shiller joins them (the same series as on the S&P 500 page).
- Booms and busts: a peak is the highest point before real prices fell 10% or more, a bottom the lowest point before they rose 10% or more; the boom is the rise from the bottom before. The first figure, 1890, does not count as a peak: nothing shows what came before it. “Back at the peak”: the first month or year at the peak's level again, after inflation.
- Homes vs stocks: the home price index against the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested every month and without them, from $1 at the start of the period, on the same dates (January for the yearly figures). No rent, upkeep or taxes for homes, no fees or taxes for stocks, no mortgage.
- The latest months: the index runs to July 2026, two to three months behind the calendar, and S&P revises its latest months a little. The latest consumer prices are estimates (Shiller's note: “Sept/Oct CPI estimated”).
- Not investment advice. Past returns, and past crashes, do not tell what will happen next.