The number of improving U.S. housing markets rose by five in June to 263, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI). This is the fifth consecutive month in which the IMI has listed more than 70 percent of U.S. metros as improving. Twenty-nine cities were added to the list in June, and 24 were dropped.
The index identifies metropolitan areas that have shown improvement in terms of the number of housing permits, rates of employment and housing prices for at least six consecutive months.
"As market conditions improve across most of the country, some metros have moved onto the IMI list while marginal seasonal fluctuations have nudged others off of it," noted NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "This is to be expected as the recovery expands. Meanwhile, it's worth noting that the number of improving markets is now more than three times what it was in June 2012."
The list of all 263 metros is available here.
