List of Improving Housing Markets Expands to 99 in September

A net total of 19 housing markets were added to the NationalrnAssociation of Home Builders/First American Improving Market Index inrnSeptember, bringing the total number of markets on the list to 99 compared torn80 last month.  Twelve cities that werernon the list in August dropped away while 31 were added.</p

Inclusion in the Improving Markets Index (IMI) is achievedrnwhen a market has improved above its respective trough in three categories; thernnumber of housing permits issued as measured by Census Bureau reports,rnemployment according to the Department of Labor, and home price appreciationrnbased on data from Freddie Mac.</p

New entries were dispersed across 21 states in all regionsrnof the country.  There were multiplernmarkets in Texas, Florida, Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, North Carolina andrnWashington joining the list.  Of the 12rncities that dropped from the list nine are located in the south with NorthrnCarolina and Georgia losing two and three spots respectively.  The index now includes markets in 33 statesrnand the District of Columbia.</p

“More metros across the country are experiencing arnsustained uptick in house prices, employment and new building activity asrnrising consumer confidence in local market conditions pushes more people tornconsider a new-home purchase,” observed NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.rn”That said, overly tight lending conditions for builders and buyersrncontinue to slow this process considerably.”<br /<br /"Combined with recent positive reports on builder confidence, housingrnstarts and new-home sales, the September IMI adds to the growing consensus thatrnhousing is finally moving in the right direction, which in turn is spurringrnmore potential buyers to get off the fence," added Kurt Pfotenhauer, vicernchairman at First American Title Insurance Company.</p

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