Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Housing is central to the economy, but tracking real housing prices across U.S. cities over time has been a persistent challenge. The Philadelphia Fed’s Historical Housing Prices Project addresses this data gap. Our expanded dataset now provides comprehensive housing price series for 30 major metropolitan areas from 1890 to 2024. Key features: • Real housing prices across 30 U.S. cities spanning more than 130 years • New series capturing housing as an investment: rental returns, capital gains, and total returns • Consistent, long-run price series for both rental and owner-occupied housing This resource gives researchers, students, and policymakers unprecedented insight into housing market dynamics. The data are available to download at https://bit.ly/3RlAIjP Read the latest #EconomicInsights to learn more about the Historical Housing Prices Project. https://bit.ly/4gZR0sX

The Philadelphia Fed’s Historical Housing Prices Project tracks 134 years of data across 30 cities to reveal when and why America’s housing markets diverged. The latest #EconomicInsights explores what this means for today’s housing prices. https://bit.ly/4gZR0sX

Chocolate may be the hallmark of Hershey, PA, but the region’s economy extends far beyond sweets and snacks — spanning food manufacturing, agriculture, and dairy production. During her visit, Philadelphia Fed President and CEO Anna Paulson learned how these interconnected industries strengthen Dauphin County’s economy. President Paulson met with leaders at The Hershey Company to hear how regional partnerships, supplier networks, and talent pipelines contribute to economic resilience in central Pennsylvania. She later joined community bankers from across the area, who described the financial landscape they’re seeing — including shifts in lending activity, evolving needs among businesses and consumers, and factors shaping credit conditions.

Philadelphia Fed President and CEO Anna Paulson visited Allentown for her first trip to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley — a region experiencing remarkable economic transformation. In partnership with the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., President Paulson met with leaders from manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and the region’s emerging life sciences sector to hear about local economic conditions shaping this fast-growing area. The visit also included a roundtable with community bankers from around the region, who shared real-time insights into local credit conditions and how businesses and households are approaching new investments in today’s environment. This visit is part of our ongoing work to strengthen connections with communities throughout the Third District.

New Working Paper: Spreading Out Across Expanding Idea Space. https://bit.ly/3U291NA

Join us on August 12 from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. ET for the final seminar in the Fed's 2026 Community Development Research Seminar Series, Place-Based Strategies: Strengthening Local Economies Through Labor Market Policies. Register today!

In her first CNBC interview, Philadelphia Fed President and CEO Anna Paulson discusses her views on the economy and monetary policy. https://cnb.cx/4gbtOXH

Philadelphia Fed President and CEO Anna Paulson outlines key perspectives on the current monetary policy environment and the road ahead. Read her latest essay. https://bit.ly/4fQ9REz

New Working Paper: ForeComp: An R Package for Comparing Predictive Accuracy Using Fixed-Smoothing Asymptotics. https://bit.ly/4vR2LFH

Tune in tomorrow morning: Philadelphia Fed President and CEO Anna Paulson will join Steve Liesman live on CNBC at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, August 4.