The areas most improved from thernprevious month were Las Vegas and Providence (+0.13), Buffalo (+0.12) andrnChicago (+0.11), while Houston, Memphis, Nashville and San Antonio all tied at +0.10.rn The most improving metros remainedrnunchanged from one year ago; Miami (+2.25), Orlando (+1.75), Las Vegas (+1.60),rnTampa (+1.46), and Riverside (+1.31). </p

Fourteen states and 21 metros showedrnan improving three month trend in April compared to 42 states and the Districtrnof Columbia and 44 metros which were improving on a three month timeline onernyear ago. </p

Freddie Mac Chief Economist FrankrnNothaft said, “With the latest release of MiMi we’re seeing very slowrnimprovement on the housing front with most markets still trying to move beyondrnstall speed. The MiMi indicators that are improving across the board show thernlocal jobs picture getting better and seriously delinquent rates continuing torncome down. Both indicators are critical to decreasing distress in localrnmarkets, but that’s also putting more pressure on markets with thinningrninventory, especially where short sales have fallen off dramatically. However,rnas you look at each of the individual markets MiMi tracks, they have their ownrnunique dynamics and show housing markets recovering at different paces.” </p

Deputy Chief Economist Len Kieferrncalled Texas a standout in the recent data with three of its cities making therntop five MiMi spots.  However, he saidrnSouth Carolina, Rhode Island, and Ohio have also done well since the first ofrnthis year.  “In fact, those metro areasrnthat are closest to joining the handful of markets that have already achievedrntheir stable range of housing activity are Pittsburgh and Oklahoma City, as isrnthe state of Oklahoma. And solid jobs gains, attractive mortgage rates and goodrnaffordability will help this trend spread to even more markets. However, incomerngrowth and greater inventory is just as important if we’re going to sustain anyrntype of meaningful housing recovery.”

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