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Consumer Price Index
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R-CPI-NTR and R-CPI-ATR Homepage
Background
The Research Consumer Price Index for New Tenant Rent (R-CPI-NTR) and Research Consumer Price Index for All Tenant Regressed Rent (R-CPI-ATR) are research index series that use data sourced from data collected for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The rent component of the official CPI measures the change in all rents, including new leases, renewals, and rents in the middle of a lease. In contrast, the R-CPI-NTR uses only a subset of the data the CPI uses, namely the first survey observations after new tenants move into their sampled housing units. The R-CPI-ATR is a measure with a scope like the CPI but using methodology similar to the R-CPI-NTR. The R-CPI-ATR measures the rent paid by all renters, both new and continuing, and incorporates most of the survey data used for the CPI for rent of primary residence.
The R-CPI-NTR uses a regression method that uses pairs of observed rents for the same housing unit. Observation pairs bookend the tenure of a renter within a housing unit: the first date records when a new renter moved in, and the second date when the next renter moves into the same housing unit. The change in the natural logarithm of rent is regressed on period indicators. Regression coefficients on the period indicators are converted to a chained index level. For each pair of rent observations, both observations are the first price after a new tenant moves into the unit. Pairing rents from the same unit mitigates bias coming from the composition of the sample changing.
The R-CPI-ATR uses a similar regression method that involves pairs of observed rents for the same housing unit. Unlike the R-CPI-NTR, the R-CPI-ATR does not restrict its data pool to only new tenant observations. For each observation pair in the R-CPI-ATR, the second observation represents the rent paid by a tenant and the first observation represents the rent paid by a (possibly different) tenant in the same housing unit the last time it responded to the survey. Most observation pairs are thus separated by six months, since the units in the BLS Housing Survey are priced every six months.
The R-CPI-NTR and R-CPI-ATR use the "economic rent" calculated for the CPI-U Rent of Primary Residence Index. Economic rent adjusts contract rents to account for changes in utilities bundled with rent, for work credits, and for the aging of units. The R-CPI-NTR and R-CPI-ATR add a timing adjustment and omit units known to have been remodeled. The R-CPI-NTR and R-CPI-ATR also drop observations in the top and bottom 1 percent of annualized rent changes. Estimated confidence intervals for the R-CPI-NTR and R-CPI-ATR are calculated using a bootstrap method. Some key methodological elements are summarized in the table below.
| Topic | CPI-U Rent of Primary Residence Index | All Tenant Regressed Rent Index | New Tenant Rent Index |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Estimation method |
Uses a weighted average of the sixth root of the changes in the economic rent | Uses the repeat rent methodology as described in Case-Shiller (1989) | Uses the repeat rent methodology as described in Case-Shiller (1989) |
|
Coverage Scope |
Incorporates new and continuing tenants | Incorporates new and continuing tenants | Includes new tenants only |
|
Observation Dates |
Assigns observations to date survey was conducted | Assigns observations to the date of move-in or the closest six month multiple after the move-in | Assigns observations to date of move-in |
|
Revisions |
Never revised (unless correction policy invoked) | Perpetually revised, with recent periods being prone to large revisions | Perpetually revised, with recent periods being prone to large revisions |
|
Frequency |
Monthly | Quarterly | Quarterly |
|
Nonresponse |
Imputes rents to account for nonresponses | Excludes nonresponse observations | Excludes nonresponse observations |
|
Vacancy |
Imputes rents to correct for vacancy bias | If a housing unit is no longer sampled, drops all observations after the last time a new tenant moved in | N/A |
|
Outliers |
Caps extreme monthly rent changes at 2000% or -95% | Excludes top and bottom 1% of rent changes for each geographic area | Excludes top and bottom 1% of rent changes for each geographic area |
|
Quality change |
Adjusts rents for changes in the certain unit characteristics | Excludes any housing units with field messages indicating remodeling or renovations | Excludes any housing units with field messages indicating remodeling or renovations |
Limitations
These research indexes utilize new methods adapted from a research article to calculate an index based on BLS rent microdata. The R-CPI-NTR and R-CPI-ATR are currently calculated as prototype research indexes. These indexes are calculated outside of the official CPI production system and are at greater risk of calculation errors than the official CPI indexes. The R-CPI-NTR and R-CPI-ATR series are calculated and published as quarterly indexes, with observations from three months of the housing survey pooled together. Every period, the entire series is re-estimated. In the regression method used, new observation pairs influence the index over the entire time spanned by the pair. The most recent periods of a repeat transaction index like the R-CPI-NTR are prone to large revisions, because the rent observations spanning those periods accumulate gradually as tenants move. Sample sizes for the R-CPI-NTR are much smaller than for the R-CPI-ATR or the official CPI for rent. This is especially the case in the first and fourth quarters when fewer moves occur. Customers should be aware of the caveats and limitations of any of these products they consider using.
Available data
The R-CPI-NTR and R-CPI-ATR are released quarterly - generally in January, April, July, and October. Data are usually available a few days after the release of the CPI-U. Release of indexes may be delayed due to resource availability and other constraints.
Data
- R-CPI-NTR and R-CPI-ATR (XLSX)
Related articles
The R-CPI-NTR and R-CPI-ATR indexes were adapted from the "New Tenant Repeat Rent Index" and "All Tenant Repeat Rent Index" of the research article "Disentangling Rent Index Differences: Data, Methods, and Scope". See Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Rent and Rental Equivalence for details about the calculation of the official CPI for Rent.
Last Modified Date: July 18, 2025