Notes On Shelter Costs — Brian Romanchuk

Shelter is a necessity, and so it is certainly an important component of the cost of living. However, the issue that we are concerned with is inflation, as well as the narrower issue of how to shelter should appear in a consumer price index (like the CPI).

Different countries have different norms with respect to how shelter is provided, and those norms have changed over time. My comments here reflect the norms in Canada and the United States, but they should translate to other developed countries once we account for local idiosyncrasies.

NOTE: This article is a draft section from a chapter on asset prices and inflation. It is preliminary, and needs beefing up with data. It is in a far more tentative state than usual, as I will be iterating on it once the rest if the chapter is finished. It needs more statistical data, and I am largely working from memory. However, chasing the data will take time, and I will only do so once the text is closer to a finished state....

Bond Economics
Notes On Shelter Costs
Brian Romanchuk