Glossary
Each term has one meaning on this site. The first text is a plain explanation. A quotation is the text of FHFA or the Census Bureau, with a link to its page.
- House price index
A set of numbers that follow the price changes of homes over time. The site calls the index of FHFA "the index". Its figure is a change in percent. It is never a price.
The agency's words:
The FHFA HPI® is a broad measure of the movement of single-family house prices.
Federal Housing Finance Agency, FHFA House Price Index, "What does the FHFA HPI® represent?"- All-transactions index
The FHFA index that uses sales prices and the appraisal values of refinance loans. The calculator, the span tables and the annual lines on this site use it.
The agency's words:
We add appraisal values from refinance mortgages to the purchase-only data sample.
FHFA, House Price Index FAQs, question 5- Purchase-only index
The FHFA index that uses sales prices only. State pages show it as a second line. FHFA uses it in its own calculator for the states.
The agency's words:
The standard indexes reported in quarterly news releases. Use prices from sales transactions of mortgage data obtained from the Enterprises.
FHFA, House Price Index, "Quarterly Purchase-Only Indexes"- Annual index
An FHFA index with one value for each year. It exists for the nation, the states, the metro areas, the counties and the ZIP Codes. The calculator uses it for every area.
The agency's words:
We use the all-transactions data but construct indexes on a yearly basis to provide data for very small geographic areas like counties, ZIP codes, and census tracts.
Federal Housing Finance Agency, FHFA House Price Index FAQs, question 5- Quarterly index
An FHFA index with one value for each quarter. It exists for the nation, the states and some metro areas. The lines of these pages use it.
The agencies have no entry for this term. The explanation is the explanation of this site.
- Four-quarter change
The change of the quarterly index from the same quarter of the year before. The state table calls it "Four quarters to" a quarter.
The agency's words:
The “four-quarter” percentage change in home values is simply the price change relative to the same quarter one year earlier.
FHFA, House Price Index FAQs, question 27- Developmental index
The word that FHFA puts in the name of each of its annual index files. FHFA does not define the word on its pages. This site shows the word wherever it shows these indexes.
The agency's words:
Five-Digit ZIP Codes (Developmental Index; Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index Datasets, Annual House Price IndexesThe agency's words:
Counties (Developmental Index; Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index Datasets, Annual House Price Indexes- Repeat-sales
A method that compares the price of the same property at two sales or two refinance loans. The index is the average of these changes.
The agency's words:
The repeat-sales procedure estimates price changes using repeat transactions on the same property units over time.
FHFA, House Price Index FAQs, question 6- Conforming mortgage
A loan that Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac can buy. Only homes with this kind of loan are in the FHFA index.
The agency's words:
Conforming refers to a mortgage that meets both the underwriting guidelines of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and does not exceed the conforming loan limit value.
FHFA, House Price Index FAQs, question 8- Base year
The first year of the index of an area. In the annual files of FHFA the index is 100 in that year. Index values of two areas are not comparable. Changes over the same years are.
The agency's words:
Note that normalization dates do not affect measured appreciation rates.
FHFA, House Price Index FAQs, question 29- Span
The years from one year to a later year. "Since you bought" is the span from the year of purchase to the newest year of the index.
The agencies have no entry for this term. The explanation is the explanation of this site.
- Compounded annual change
The yearly rate that gives the total change over a span when each year's change applies to the value of the year before. A total of +100% in 10 years is +7.2% each year, compounded.
The agencies have no entry for this term. The explanation is the explanation of this site.
- Drawdown
A decline of 5% or more of the annual index from a peak. The site lists the peak, the low and the year when the index was at the peak again. FHFA does not use the word.
The agencies have no entry for this term. The explanation is the explanation of this site.
- Price trail
The line of the FHFA index of an area, from its first year to its newest year. The annual files of FHFA have no index for a city, so a city page shows the trail of its county, metro area or state.
The agencies have no entry for this term. The explanation is the explanation of this site.
- Building permit
The approval of a local office to build. A permit does not show that the work started or ended. The Census Bureau counts the units that permits authorize.
The agency's words:
The approval given by a local jurisdiction to proceed on a construction project. Note that not all areas of the country require a permit for construction.
Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, DefinitionsThe homes that building permits allow to be built, as the Census Bureau counts them. An apartment building with 120 flats counts 120 units. A house counts 1 unit.
The agency's words:
A housing unit, as defined for purposes of these data, is a house, an apartment, a group of rooms, or a single room intended for occupancy as separate living quarters.
Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, DefinitionsThe agency's words:
The act of a local jurisdiction approving construction projects by issuing building or zoning permits.
Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Definitions- Permit-issuing place
An office that issues building permits: a city, a town, a township or a county. The city pages of this site are pages of permit-issuing places.
The agency's words:
A geographic area that issues building or zoning permits for the construction of residential structures.
Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Definitions- Estimates with imputation
Permit counts that include figures for offices that did not report. The site uses these counts. Part of a count for a place can be an estimate.
The agency's words:
Data labeled as "Estimates with Imputation" include the imputed data as well as reported data from the respondent or from the SOC.
US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Definitions- ZIP Code and ZCTA
A ZIP Code is a code of the postal service. The Census Bureau draws a ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) for most codes. The site uses ZCTAs to give each ZIP Code a county and a place name.
The agency's words:
ZCTAs are generalized areal representations of the geographic extent and distribution of the point-based ZIP Codes built using 2020 Census tabulation blocks.
Census Bureau, ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs)- Metropolitan statistical area
A group of counties around a city of 50,000 people or more. A micropolitan area has a city of 10,000 to 49,999 people. CBSA is the name for both kinds.
The agency's words:
Each metropolitan statistical area must have at least one urban area of 50,000 or more inhabitants.
Census Bureau, About Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas- American Community Survey (ACS)
A survey of the Census Bureau that asks households each year about their homes and lives. The site uses its 5-year estimates of the median home value.
The agency's words:
The American Community Survey (ACS) is an ongoing survey that provides vital information on a yearly basis about our nation and its people.
Census Bureau, About the American Community Survey- Median home value
The middle value of the homes that their owners live in: half of the homes are below it and half are above it. Owners give the value. It is not a sale price and not an FHFA figure.
The agency's words:
Value is the respondent's estimate of how much the property (house and lot, mobile home and lot (if lot owned), or condominium unit) would sell for if it were for sale.
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 Subject Definitions, "Value"The agency's words:
The median divides the value distribution into two equal parts: one-half of the cases falling below the median value of the property (house and lot, mobile home and lot (if lot owned), or condominium unit) and one-half above the median.
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 Subject Definitions, "Value"- Margin of error
The amount to add to an estimate and to take from it, to get a range. The Census Bureau states the margin at the 90 percent level. A large margin means a less exact estimate.
The agency's words:
The MOEs for published ACS estimates are provided at a 90 percent confidence level.
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey General Handbook, chapter 7, "Understanding Error and Determining Statistical Significance"The agency's words:
A margin of error (MOE) describes the precision of an ACS estimate at a given level of confidence.
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey General Handbook, chapter 7, "Understanding Error and Determining Statistical Significance"- $2,000,000 or more
The top value of the median home value. When the median is in the highest group, the Census Bureau does not give an exact figure. The site shows no margin of error for it.
The agency's words:
The median falls in the highest interval of an open-ended distribution (for example "250,000+").
US Census Bureau, Notes on ACS Estimate and Annotation Values
The site copied the agency texts on . A quotation keeps the spelling and the marks of the agency.
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