Insee FocusHousing in the Consumer Price Index

Marie Leclair, division Indices des prix à la consommation, Catherine Rougerie et Hélène Thélot, division Logement, Insee

Rents and charges increased by an average of 1.9% per year from 1998 to 2018, which is slightly higher than overall inflation (1.4%). The weight of rents is low in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the main measure of inflation, given that this expenditure is zero for homeowners. But even if the measure is restricted to tenants only, overall inflation remains on average 1.4% per year.

Housing purchase prices have risen steadily since 2000, at a much higher rate than rents. Housing purchases are not included in the CPI, since they are an investment and the CPI is about consumption. However, taking into account housing purchases has also had a limited impact on inflation in recent years.

The housing cost rate completes the analysis: between 2001 and 2013, the share of housing expenditure in household income increased significantly less for homeowners paying mortgages (+1 point) than for other categories of households (+5 points for example for tenants in the free sector).

Insee Focus
No 152
Paru le :Paru le18/04/2019
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Marie Leclair, division Indices des prix à la consommation, Catherine Rougerie et Hélène Thélot, division Logement, Insee
Insee Focus No 152- April 2019