Karl Case of Case-Shiller Index to retire

The Boston Globe reported today that Professor Karl E. Case co-developer of the Case-Shiller Index, the most influential measure of our nation’s housing market, is teaching his last class today. The 63-year-old Wellesley College economics professor suffers from Parkinson’s disease.

The Case-Shiller Index is based on sales of homes that have previously sold. According to the Boston Globe, “In 1986, Case published his first article criticizing the standard of measuring housing prices based on median sales prices. He argued that median prices showed only the values of homes that were selling at a specific time. Measuring the difference between repeat sales of specific homes, he said, is a more accurate way to judge housing appreciation. He also warned about a housing bubble at that time, a year before prices began to drop in 1987.”

For the full Globe article read, “Case’s career rewarding by any measure“.

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