The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) added 47 metropolitan areas to its Improving Markets Index (IMI) in January; the home builders association said 242 housing markets of 361 nationwide, or 67 percent, are showing gains from their respective troughs in housing permits, employment and house prices for at least six consecutive months.
The list included 201 markets in December; the latest tally saw 47 added and six dropped. Newly added metros include such geographically diverse locations as Los Angeles; Auburn, Ala.; Des Moines, Iowa; Nashville, Tenn.; Richmond, Va.; and Cleveland. Markets in 48 states as well as Washington, D.C., are included in January's list.
"We created the improving markets list in September of 2011 to spotlight individual metros where-contrary to the national headlines-housing markets were on the mend," said NAHB Chairman Barry Rutenberg, a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. "Today, 242 out of 361 metros nationwide appear on that list, including representatives from almost every state in the country. The story is no longer about exceptions to the rule, but about the growing breadth of the housing recovery even as overly strict mortgage requirements hold back the pace of improvement."
"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," said 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."
