The monthly tiered indices are available as early as January 1987.  The price break time series start only at September 2008, because the source does not provide history.  Both the tiered indices and price breaks are seasonally adjusted (SA), but the sale pair counts (previously available) are not.

The tiered indices are produced by arranging the sales pairs for a period (three-month rolling period) by increasing price, then dividing into equal thirds: low-priced sales, mid-priced sales, and high-priced sales.  Since the price distribution varies by time and place, the price breaks are included as ancillary data.  Given these data, it's impossible to calculate the minimum or maximum prices for the aggregate, or the median or average prices for the tiers or aggregate.

The aggregate indices (concept code HCSHP1TIM) appear in both the "Aggregate Only" and "Tiered" datasets.  The tiered indices and price breaks are published at 9:30 a.m. ET on the day of release (the last Tuesday of each month), 30 minutes after the "Aggregate Only" figures.

These concept codes match those for the analogous data from the quarterly Fiserv Case-Shiller® Home Price Index (available separately through DataBuffet.com®).  The older incompatible mnemonics will still work.

The tiered data are available for 17 selected major metro areas.  For Charlotte, Dallas and Detroit, only the aggregate index is available.  The New York Commuter area (geo code MNEY) consists of the New York MSA, augmented by the source with additional counties in adjacent states.