First American Financial Corp. has teamed up with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) to release the Improving Markets Index (IMI), which is meant to identify metro areas that have shown at least six months of improvement in employment and housing prices and an increase in housing permits.
This month’s NAHB/First American IMI reveals that the number of improving housing markets continued to expand for a fourth consecutive month, rising from 30 in November to 41.
“The continued modest improvement we see across diverse housing markets combined with the recent improvement in unemployment are encouraging signs that the economy may finally be gaining some traction,” said Kurt Pfotenhauer, vice chairman of First American Title Insurance Co.
The December list features 20 new additions, including several major markets such as Washington, D.C., San Jose, Calif., and Toledo, Ohio. Meanwhile, nine smaller markets dropped off the list, primarily due to softer house prices. Texas still maintains the most metros on the list, with eight total. The following metro areas are new to the list for December:
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Athens, Ga.
Boulder, Colo.
Burlington, Vt.
Canton, Ohio
Charleston, W.Va.
Danville, Va.
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Grand Forks, N.D.
Jackson, Miss.
Kingsport, Tenn.
Laredo, Texas
Lincoln, Neb.
Muncie, Ind.
Muskegon, Mich.
San Jose, Calif.
Scranton, Pa.
Toledo, Ohio
Washington, D.C.
Winchester, Va.
“The increases we continue to see in the number and geographic diversity of improving metros are quite encouraging, and evidence of the fact that all housing markets are dependent on uniquely local factors,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a homebuilder from Reno, Nev.
As of December, a total of 21 states and Washington, D.C., are represented on the improving markets list — up from14 states represented in November.
The nine markets that dropped off the IMI in December include:
Alexandria, La.,
Fairbanks, Alaska,
Hinesville, Ga.,
Houma, La.,
Jonesboro, Ark.,
Lima, Ohio,
Pine Bluff, Ark.,
Sumter, S.C., and
Waco, Texas.
All but two of these metros fell from the list due to softening house prices. The exceptions to the rule were Jonesboro and Waco, where declines were registered in employment and single-family housing permits, respectively.
“The December IMI results are very much in keeping with the latest government housing data and our own builder surveys, which have shown modest signs of improvement in certain individual markets where employment is gaining and distressed properties are not as numerous,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “These gradual improvements are now becoming evident not just in small, energy-producing metros that have previously dominated the IMI, but also in several larger markets and areas with more diverse economies.”
The IMI is designed to track housing markets throughout the country that are showing signs of improving economic health. The index measures three sets of independent monthly data to get a mark on the top improving Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The three indicators that are analyzed 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.
Here is the complete list for December:
Anchorage, Alaska
San Jose, Calif.
Boulder, Colo.
Fort Collins, Colo.
Washington, D.C.
Athens, Ga.
Davenport, Iowa
Waterloo, Iowa
Kankakee, Ill.
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Muncie, Ind.
Monroe, La.
New Orleans, La.
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Muskegon, Mich.
Jackson, Miss.
Fayetteville, N.C.
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Bismarck, N.D.
Grand Forks, N.D.
Lincoln, Neb.
Canton, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Scranton, Pa.
Williamsport, Pa.
Kingsport, Tenn.
Amarillo, Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Laredo, Texas
McAllen, Texas
Midland, Texas
Odessa, Texas
Sherman, Texas
Tyler, Texas
Danville, Va.
Winchester, Va.
Burlington, Vt.
Charleston, W.Va.
Casper, Wyo.
Cheyenne, Wyo.