Data and Appendix for: The Price and Quantity of Residential Land in the United States

If you use these data in a paper, could you include the following citation?

Davis, Morris A. and Jonathan Heathcote, 2007, “The Price and Quantity of Residential Land in the United States,” Journal of Monetary Economics, vol. 54 (8), p. 2595-2620.

• For the detailed data appendix, click here (Nov. 2006)

• For quarterly data, 1975:1 – current quarter (house price index from Macromarkets/CSW), click here
  (all-transactions OFHEO from 1975:1 – 1986:4, Macromarkets/CSW from 1987:1 - current)

• For quarterly data, 1975:1 – current quarter (house price index from FHFA), click here
  (all-transactions OFHEO from 1975:1 – 1990:4, purchase only (seasonally adjusted) from 1991:1 – current)

• For annual data, 1930 – 2000, click here

Data key for quarterly (1975:1 – current) and annual (1930-2000) data

LAND_NOM	Aggregate market value of residential land
MKVAL_NOM	Aggregate market value of homes
STRUC_NOM	Aggregate replacement cost of residential structures
LAND_PI	Price index for residential land
MKVAL_PI	Price index for homes
STRUC_PI	Price index for residential structures
CONS_PI	Price index for consumption

Notes on quarterly and annual data sets:

1. Market values are in billions of current dollars. Price indexes are set such that 2000:Q2 = 1.0.
2. “Aggregate” refers to non-farm residential units, owned and rented. It does not include mobile homes and does not include residences owned by nonprofits.
3. Our estimate of the replacement cost of residential structures will not match what is published by the BEA. We use the BEA estimates, excluding (a) all residential equipment, (b) the replacement cost of residential farm structures, (c) mobile homes, and (d) structures owned by non-profits. Unlike the BEA, we do not consider expenditures on “broker’s commissions” to be gross investment in structures, and we adjust the BEA’s estimate of the replacement cost of residential structures accordingly (see the paper and appendix for details).

Notes on annual data (only):

1. Our house- and land- price indexes are not going to be accurate on a year-by-year basis. These series are indicative of longer-run trends.
2. Our data do not pass through our Census estimate of 1940. Therefore the 1930-1950 house and land price series are especially inaccurate