List of improving housing markets expands to 242 in January

The IMI identifies metro areas that have shown improvement from their respective troughs in housing permits, employment, and home prices for at least six consecutive months.

 

A total of 47 new metros were added to the list and six were dropped from it this month. Newly added metros include: Los Angeles, Calif.; Auburn, Ala.; Des Moines, Iowa; Nashville, Tenn.; Richmond, Va.; and Cleveland, Ohio.

 

"The IMI has almost doubled in the past two months as stronger demand during prime home buying season boosted prices across a broader number of metropolitan areas," noted NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "Similar home price gains, and hence the IMI, may be tempered in the future as we see data from typically slower months for home sales."

 

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 to get a mark on the top improving Metropolitan Statistical Areas. 

 

The three indicators that are analyzed are employment growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, housing price appreciation from Freddie Mac, and single-family housing permit growth from the U.S. Census Bureau. NAHB uses the latest available data from these sources to generate a list of improving markets. 

 

A metropolitan area must see improvement in all three measures for at least six consecutive months following those measures' respective troughs before being included on the improving markets list.

 

A complete list of all 242 metropolitan areas currently on the IMI, and separate breakouts of metros newly added to or dropped from the list in January, is available at www.nahb.org/imi. A state-by-state listing of metro areas on the list is also available at www.nahb.org/improvingmarkets.