CME Housing Products Launch

CME Housing Products to Launch on Monday, May 22nd.

While other industries, such as agriculture and the financial markets, have access to a wide range of financial risk management tools, such tools have not been available to the housing industry – until now. CME is continuing its tradition of innovation with the creation of the first comprehensive products to hedge risk in real estate – CME Housing futures and options. These products provide opportunities for protection in down markets, and extend to the housing industry the same financial tools that previous CME innovations have brought to agriculture and finance. By providing a means of hedging exposure to home prices, they can diffuse the potential impact of sustained declines in housing prices. In addition, they:

- Create a new means of risk transfer to a broad range of investors
- Have the potential for fostering stability in the housing industry
- Provide an innovative way to participate in the real estate market without having to buy and sell properties

Based on the S&P/Case-Shiller (CS) Home Price Indexes, CME Housing futures and options are cash-settled to a weighted composite index of U.S. real estate prices, as well as to specific markets in 10 major U.S. cities:

Boston, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Discussion topic about the Housing Future - with down-loadable spreadsheets and charts.