High School

The value of a house can be predicted by the expression \(250000(1.09)^t\), where \(t\) is the number of years since 2015. What does the value 250000 represent?

Answer :

The value 250000 in the expression represents the initial or present value of the house in 2015, which is the starting point of the calculation before accounting for any potential future appreciation.

In the expression 250000(1.09)t, the value of 250000 represents the initial value or present value of the house in the year 2015. The value of a house, as an asset, is related to the flow of services it provides, such as rental income or the value of living in it, as well as the expectation of its future price. Therefore, in this case, 250000 is the amount one would have considered the house to be worth at the starting point of the calculation, before considering any appreciation that occurs over time due to factors like a general rise in housing prices or improvements made to the house.