Market price approach to simple user cost

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Gudnason, Rosmundur

Affiliations: Statistics Iceland, Borgartúni 21a, IS - Reykjavík 150, Iceland. Tel.: +354 528 1201; Fax: +354 528 1099; E-mail: rosmundur.gudnason@statice.is

Abstract: There are two main approaches to measuring Owner Occupied Housing: the flow of services approach (covering rental equivalence and user cost) and the net acquisition. They use market price information for price measurement in the calculation of consumer's use of own housing. This paper describes these methods and treats extensively the simple user cost used for the calculation of owner occupied housing in Iceland. This method measures expenditure shares based on sticky real interest rate and depreciation. The price change of property is measured by a constant quality price index for all properties sold.

Keywords: consumer price index, cost of living index, household expenditure surveys, owner occupied housing, user cost

DOI: 10.3233/SJU-2004-21206

Journal: Statistical Journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 147-155, 2004