Freddie Mac's Housing Market Remains Weak

Just under one third of the states plus the District ofrnColumbia are now in what is considered a “stable” range on Freddie Mc’srnMulti-Indicator Market Index®rnor MiMi.  The index, a monthly evaluationrnof the U.S. housing market compared to its long-term stable range, stood at 74.5rnin October.</p

Freddie Mac said the index currently indicates a weakrnhousing market overall but it is slightly improved from September to October,rnup by 0.12 percent.  The three monthrntrend is positive at 0.42 percent.  Comparedrnto the same point in 2013 the MiMi has increased by 4.48 percent.</p

The index combines proprietary Freddie Mac data with currentrnlocal market data on home purchase applications, payment-to-income ratios (thisrnmeasures changes in home purchasing power based on house prices, mortgagernrates, and household income,) the proportion of mortgage payments made on time,rnand local employment data.  The indexrncompares this data for the nation, the states, and the 50 top metropolitanrnareas with data for those areas from what is considered a stable time in thernmarket.  A composite number is computedrnfor each locality and the MiMi also indicates whether an area is trending towardrnor further away from its stable range. </p

Of those thirteen states plus the nation’s capitol current consideredrnto be in a stable range the highest ranked are NorthrnDakota (95.9) the District of Columbia (94.1), Montana (91.2), Wyoming (91.0),rnand Hawaii (89.2).</p

Of the eight (out ofrn50) metro areas tracked that are also considered stable the top three are allrnin Texas; San Antonio (89.9), Austin (87.0), and Houston (85.3).   LosrnAngeles (84.4) and Salt Lake City (83.1) round out the highest ranked five. </p

Twenty-nine states and 41 metropolitanrnareas showed an improved three month trend in October compared to 39 statesrnplus the District of Columbia, and 43 of the top 50 metro areas the previousrnOctober.  Two metro areas, San Jose and Pittsburgh,rnreached their benchmark stable ranges during the month. </p

The all-time MiMi high was 122.5, reachedrnin June 2006 while the low was 60.3 in September 2011, when the housing marketrnwas at its weakest. Since that time, the housing market has made a 23.5 percentrncomeback.

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