Build a chart

Put two statistics side by side and see the bigger picture.

Median Home PriceMedian Household IncomeDemocratic administrationRepublican administrationIndexed: each line starts at 100

What was happening

1COVID-19 recessionFeb–Apr 2020

The shortest recession on record by NBER dates: two months, February to April 2020. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research ↗

2Fed begins raising ratesMar 16, 2022

The first of 11 rate increases through July 2023, aimed at inflation, which peaks at 9.1% in June 2022. Source: Federal Reserve Board ↗

Both series indexed to 100 at their first observation in the range. Census · New Residential Sales: median sales price of new houses sold; Census · CPS ASEC Historical Income Table H-5 (all races)

Two measures. Different stories.

Median sale price of new single-family houses sold in the month (not seasonally adjusted). Covers newly built homes only, not existing-home sales.

Annual pre-tax household income at the midpoint of the distribution, in current (nominal) dollars. Where Census re-estimated a year after a methods change, its current estimate is used.