House Price Index Technical Documentation
18. How do I use the manipulatable data (in TXT files) on the website to calculate appreciation rates?
The index numbers alone (for census divisions and U.S., individual states, and MSAs) do not have significance. They have meaning in relation to previous or future index numbers, because you can use them to calculate appreciation rates using the formula below.
To calculate appreciation between any 2 quarters, use the formula:
(QUARTER 2 INDEX NUMBER - QUARTER 1 INDEX NUMBER) / QUARTER 1 INDEX NUMBER
You can generate annual numbers by taking the four quarter average for each year or monthly numbers by finding the difference between two months.
