In the 2010 Census, a long-form questionnaire was not used. Therefore, the Census no longer asked about whether people moved and bought a home. So another brand new benchmarking process is needed. NAR has already been in contact with all key housing economists in the industry and government agencies and a few in the academia about finding a new benchmarking process. We expect a new clean, agreed-upon benchmark figure by the summer of this year.
In addition, we will be determining a new way to re-benchmark on a more frequent basis, possibly annually, to lessen any drift that can accumulate over time. This frequent re-benchmarking, rather than waiting every 10 years, is needed since the Census no longer collects a long-form questionnaire. With benchmarking, we will be working with various outside housing economists to develop a new-agreed upon method.