Stocks have outperformed housing during the recovery Percentage change in each index since January 2009
As the accompanying charts show, since the formal end of the recession, the stock market (as measured by the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index) has recovered much more strongly than housing. As of Tuesday’s market close, the S&P 500 was up more than 74% (excluding dividends) since the beginning of 2009; although home values, as measured by the S&P/Case-Shiller index, were up 9.3% between February 2012 and February 2013 (the most recent data available), the index stands almost exactly where it did four years ago. (See this post for more discussion of the Case-Shiller index and how it’s calculated.)
Stocks have outperformed housing during the recovery  | Percentage change in each index since January 2009  | +62 4%  | 60%  | S&P 500*  | 40  | END OF GREAT  | FEBRUARY 2013  | RECESSION  | 20  | Case Shiller  | 20-city composite  | +0.2%  | 20  | 2009  | 2010  | 2011  | 2012  | Source: Pew Research ana lysis 20ccity of Standard & Poor's 500 stock index (as of the first trading day of each month) and  | Standard & Poor's Research Case Shiller 20ccity composite Poor's housing index  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 