The NAHB/First American ImprovingrnMarkets Index (IMI) lists metro areas which have shown improvement from theirrnpost crisis troughs in each of three economic areas for six consecutive months.rn These benchmark elements are housingrnpermits (from Census Bureau data), house prices (measured by Freddie Mac) andrnemployment (as provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.).</p

Newly added metros include suchrngeographically diverse locations as Los Angeles, Auburn, Alabama; Des Moines,rnIowa; Nashville, Richmond, Virginia.; and Cleveland.  Cities dropped included Montgomery, Alabamarnand Lima, Ohio<br /<br /"We created the improving markets list in September of 2011 to spotlightrnindividual metros where — contrary to the national headlines — housingrnmarkets were on the mend," noted NAHB Chairman Barry Rutenberg.  “Today, 242 out of 361 metros nationwidernappear on that list, including representatives from almost every state in therncountry. The story is no longer about exceptions to the rule, but about therngrowing breadth of the housing recovery even as overly strict mortgagernrequirements hold back the pace of improvement.”<br /<br /"The IMI has almost doubled in the past two months as stronger demandrnduring prime home buying season boosted prices across a broader number ofrnmetropolitan areas," noted NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "Similarrnhome price gains, and hence the IMI, may be tempered in the future as we seerndata from typically slower months for home sales."<br /<br /"Potential home buyers should be encouraged by the positive momentum inrnhome prices, permitting and employment that is increasingly evident in not justrnisolated housing markets, but a broadening swath of the country," addedrnKurt Pfotenhauer, vice chairman of First American Title Insurance Company.

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