Here’s what it does:
Let’s say you want to know how fast house prices typically rise in Hamilton over 10 years.
Over the last 10 years, Hamilton house prices rose by 4.5% per year.
So, you might think, well, that gives me a sense of what might happen over the next 10 years.
But that’s only one 10-year period. So, it might not tell you what usually happens.
That’s why this tool compares:
- January 1992 with January 2002.
- Then it does the same with February 1992 and February 2002.
- And March 1992 and March 2002.
And it does this 292 times. That way, you can see what tends to happen over 10 years. (Or, however many years you care about).
Hamilton house prices have only gone up 4.5% per year over the last decade.
If you bought at any random time since 1992, and held for 10 years, 74.3% of the time, your house value would have gone up by at least 5% per year.
That’s assuming that your house followed the market perfectly.