Price Index for Dwelling Rents in Finland

Abstract

The price index for dwelling rents in Finland have been measured from data that is collected in connection with the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The construction of index series is based on the base strategy with log-Laspeyres as the index number formula. Some problems have emerged: First, the data did not allow detailed regional classification. Second, the purpose of data collection was mainly for labour markets survey, not for dwelling rents (i.e. weighting into target population). Third, the selection of proper index number formula had not been adequately analyzed.

In this study we analyze these three questions by new monthly collected data having over 400 000 observations from whole country quite representatively. The data includes dwelling rents from the Social Insurance Institution's register of housing allowances and from two major private rental housing companies. It includes government-subsidized and non-subsidized dwellings.