All glossary terms

Year-over-Year (YoY) Change

Definition

Year-over-year change compares a metric’s current value to its value twelve months earlier, expressed as a percentage. Comparing the same month across years cancels out normal seasonal swings in the housing market.

Formula

(Current value − value 12 months ago) / value 12 months ago × 100

How to interpret it

YoY is the cleanest way to judge whether a market is truly appreciating or cooling, because it strips out seasonality that distorts month-over-month readings. A positive YoY price change means values are higher than a year ago; the size and direction of the trend matter more than any single month.

See year-over-year (yoy) change for any state, metro, county, or ZIP code in the Reatlas Market Explorer.

Explore the data

Related terms

Source: Reatlas analysis of U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS), Realtor.com, and Zillow market data.