US Real Estate- Twice as many ‘improving housing markets’

The number of real estate markets showing improvement nearly doubled in January with the addition of 40 new metros to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI). The IMI now shows 76 improving housing markets, up from 41 in December, with 31 states and the District of Columbia represented by at least one entry.

In Florida, three cities made it onto IMI’s improved list: Jacksonville, Cape Coral and Punta Gorda.

The IMI is designed to track housing markets throughout the US that are improving. The index measures three sets of independent monthly data.. The three indicators are employment growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, house price appreciation from Freddie Mac, and single-family housing permit growth from the U.S. Census Bureau.

A metropolitan area must see improvement in all three areas for at least six months following their respective lows before being included on the improving markets list. NAHB uses the latest available data from these sources to generate a list of improving markets.

Other USA metros that showed improvement are Dallas, Denver, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Nashville and Philadelphia. A complete list of all 76 metropolitan areas currently on the IMI is available on NAHB’s website.

Source: 2012 Florida Realtors