An IMF Course on measuring residential property prices

The course on Residential Property Price Indices was delivered in Vienna during the period May 22–26, 2023. The course was attended by 26 participants from 17 countries, mainly representing national central banks and statistical offices.

Reliable property price indexes and other indicators of real estate markets are critical ingredients for financial stability policy analysis. Improving the compilation of property price statistics supports better measures of economic growth and enhances the reliability and accuracy of inflation measures used for policymaking. The course topics included an overview of data sources, methods for data inspection and pre-processing as well as for data analysis and cleaning, guidance on developing weights, best practices on data stratification, concepts of index calculation methods, and advice on data dissemination.

The program included interactive discussions, practical exercises to apply concepts and methods discussed, and limited lectures. Final course topics were driven by the compilation issues noted by the participants during presentations of country practices on the first day, where participants shared their country experiences with the other participants. The participants were very motivated and engaged with the course through questions and discussion. Practical workshops allowed the participants to apply the learning from the lectures.

The participation level was high and there were many questions on the topic indicating higher level of awareness among the participants. The feedback received indicates that the participants improved their capacity to implement Residential Property Price Indices compilation methods that meet international standards. Bilateral discussions also took place on possible technical assistance from the IMF, e.g., on developing data sources.

Jens Mehrhoff, Senior Economist, IMF