The Consumer Price Index switched to a rental-equivalence approach for measuring shelter costs in 1983.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by BLS's own historical documentation and multiple independent corroborating sources (Federal Reserve Bank of SF, National Academies, economic commentary), all consistent on the 1983 implementation date for CPI-U. [tier=unverified indep_score=0.3 clusters=3 claim_tier=notable] [rescored 2026-09-15: curated origin-host map (PR #65); unclassified hosts no longer scored as aggregators]
Sources
- R-CPI-U-RS Homepage (seed:economics_and_business)
- https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/26485/chapter/6 (corroboration)
- https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/economic-letter/2022/10/comparing-measures-of-housing-inflation/ (corroboration)
- https://www.fullstackeconomics.com/p/why-the-government-took-home-prices-out-of-the-consumer-price-index (corroboration)