The country is running at 93 percent of normal economic and housing activity and 79 of 360 metro areas nationwide returned to or exceeded their last normal levels of activity in the third quarter of 2015, according to the National Association of Home Builders Leading Markets Index.
The number of markets at 90 percent or above has increased to 175 this quarter, according to the LMI.
“Housing markets are improving gradually as the economy strengthens and job creation continues,” said NAHB Chairman Tom Woods in a statement.
The slowest component of the LMI is housing permits, which remain at 47 percent of normal activity in the third quarter. The employment metric of the LMI is making “solid gains,” with the number of metros that reached or surpassed their normal levels increasing by 32, said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.
The highest performing major metro is Baton Rouge, La., which has an LMI score of 1.53—or 53 percent than its last normal market level.
Midland and Odessa, Texas, are the strongest performing smaller metros with an LMI score of 2 or better, meaning their markets are twice as strong as they were prior to the recession.
