NO they don't count housing because they consider it an asset - remember they use some convoluted thing for housing inflation: They ask random set of people the question, how much would you pay to rent your equivalent house and they use that number? It's a fricken made up number, it's ridiculous - it's called OER here's a paragraph from an article

    The cost of owned housing is less straightforward. What the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is trying to measure with the CPI is the cost of “consuming” housing as shelter every month. That’s why home sale prices are not used. The BLS considers the home a real estate asset and, therefore, an investment, not a consumption good. Instead, the BLS uses an owner’s equivalent rent (OER). The BLS estimates the OER by asking homeowners how much they could charge to rent their home.

Newsletter

Subscribe to our email list for regular free market updates
as well as a chance to get coupons!