A total of 103 housing markets were listed on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) for October. This is up from 99 markets listed as improving in September, and is the largest number of metro areas on the IMI since it was created one year ago.
A total of 33 states and the District of Columbia are represented on the October list, which identifies metropolitan areas that have shown improvement from their respective troughs in housing permits, employment and house prices for at least six consecutive months. Markets added to the list in October include Santa Cruz, Calif.; Pocatello, Idaho; Abilene, Texas; and Savannah, Ga.
‘While 11 new housing markets were designated as improving in October, 92 metros retained their spots on the IMI and just seven slipped from the list,’ says Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the NAHB and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. ‘This is an encouraging sign that the housing recovery is proceeding at a steady pace as firming prices and employment help spur new building activity, which in turn generates new jobs and more home sales.’