List of Improving Housing Markets Grows

The list of housing markets showing signs of improvement in home prices and overall market conditions in February has grown to nearly 100 cities, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index.

The index reveals metro areas that have shown improvement in home prices, housing permits, and employment for at least six straight months.

In the latest index, some markets that were particularly hard-hit during the housing market crash — such as Miami and Detroit — were added to this month’s list. Such cities are seeing a turnaround in their sluggish housing markets, possibly already hitting bottom.

“Despite the many challenges that continue to drag on the housing recovery — including the tight lending environment for builders and buyers — improving conditions are slowly but surely spreading from one housing market to the next,” Bob Nielsen, NAHB chairman, said in a statement.

The 29 metro areas added to the list this month are:

Napa, Calif.
Deltona, Fla.
Miami, Fla.
North Port, Fla.
Tampa, Fla.
Augusta, Ga.
Shreveport, La.
Springfield, Mass.
Cumberland, Md.
Lewiston, Maine
Boston, Mass.
Detroit, Mich.
Duluth, Minn.
Rochester, Minn.
Jefferson City, Mo.
Kansas City, Mo.
Hattiesburg, Miss.
Omaha, Neb.
Ocean City, N.J.
Syracuse, N.Y.
Springfield, Ohio
Youngstown, Ohio
Portland, Ore.
Longview, Texas
Memphis, Tenn.
Provo, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Bellingham, Wash.
Kennewick, Wash.
See all 98 metro areas on the list at www.nahb.org/imi.

Still, while there are signs of improvement, the metros on the list, for the most part, continue to have a long way to go to fully recover, said David Crowe, NAHB’s chief economist. But "this is a sign that a large cross section of the country is starting to turn the corner as local economic conditions stabilize,” Crowe said.

While nearly 30 markets were added to the February index, seven markets dropped off the list this month as home prices started to soften. The metro areas dropped from this month’s index are: San Jose, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; Kankakee, Ill.; New Orleans; Worcester, Mass.; Jackscon, Miss.; and Sherman, Texas.

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine Daily News