If you think longtime homeowners are paying less, then substituting equivalent rent should push the CPI rate of inflation to be higher than the genuine rate. An overestimate.
So you think correctly calculated inflation is less than the CPI says?
I thought everybody who thinks it is inaccurate thinks it is an underestimate, that the government is covering up inflation being rather high.
Also, if they just didn't survey non-renters, then the result would not include how much homeowners spend on, say, hamburgers or whatever.
"If someone were to rent your home today, how much do you think it would rent for monthly, unfurnished and without utilities?” [1]
So, I was wrong about this. I'm wondering how people might be biased, though? They could over- or under-estimate what their property would go for.
[1] https://www.bls.gov/cpi/factsheets/owners-equivalent-rent-an...
Though of course there are also those who bought at high prices too.
If you want to know about rents, it would make sense to just look at rents. I wonder how the housing component of CPI would look if there were a survey that was limited to renters?