1. Yale economist Robert J. Shiller and Wellesley economist Karl Case created the Case-Shiller
index of American housing prices that tracks the value of housing back to 1890 in consistent
terms, factoring out the effects of inflation. The 1890 benchmark is 100 on the chart. If a
standard house sold in 1890 for $100,000 (inflation-adjusted to today's dollars), an equivalent
house would have sold for $66,000 in 1920 (66 on the index scale) and $220,000 in 2006 (220 on
the index scale).
Use the following graph, based on the Case-Shiller index, to write a 60-second summary about
home values in the United States since 1890. You can use the Internet to find the current value
of homes and see if these projections are accurate.
A History of Home Values
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
PROJECTION
WORLD
GREAT WORLD
WARI DEPRESSION WAR II
for
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
CURRENT JULY 2006
BOOM
1970'S 1980'S
BOOM BOOM
M
200
190
180
170
160
150
140
130
120
110
100