The National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) for July listed 255 metropolitan areas across 49 states and the District of Columbia. This is down from 263 metros in June, but still 3 times the number of July 2012, according to NAHB.
The IMI is a list of cities that have shown improvement in terms of housing permits, employment and house prices for at least six consecutive months. In July, six markets were added while 14 were dropped. July is the sixth straight month in which at least 70 percent of all U.S. metros have qualified for the IMI.
"The fact that more than two-thirds of all U.S. housing markets continue to be represented on the improving list should be a boon to consumer confidence at a time when many are looking to take advantage of today's very favorable mortgage rates," said Kurt Pfotenhauer, vice chairman of First American Title Insurance Company, in a statement.
A complete list of all 255 metros currently on the IMI, and separate breakouts of metros newly added to or dropped from the list in July, is available at www.nahb.org/imi.
