A total of 103 housing markets across the United States qualified to be listed on the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) for October. This is the largest number of metros on the IMI since it was created one year ago.
The index identifies metropolitan areas that have shown improvement in housing permits, employment and house prices for at least six consecutive months. Markets added to the list in October include such geographically diverse locations as Santa Cruz, CA; Pocatello, ID; Abilene, TX; and Savannah, GA.
“While 11 new housing markets were designated as improving in October, 92 metros retained their spots on the IMI and just seven slipped from the list,” said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Gainesville, FL. “This is an encouraging sign that the housing recovery is proceeding at a steady pace as firming prices and employment help spur new building activity, which in turn generates new jobs and more home sales.”
“The fact that most markets are maintaining their spots on the improving list from month to month is an important indication that the recovery trend is solidifying,” said David Crowe, NAHB chief economist. “At the same time, overly tight credit conditions are certainly constraining consumers’ ability to purchase homes as well as builders’ ability to construct them.”
The IMI is designed to track housing markets throughout the country that are showing signs of improving economic health. The index measures three sets of independent monthly data including employment growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, house price appreciation from Freddie Mac and single-family housing permit growth from the U.S. Census Bureau.
A complete list of all metropolitan areas currently on the IMI, and separate breakouts of metros newly added to or dropped from the list in October, is available here.
