NAHB Develops Improving Markets Index

Washington, DC, Sept. 7, 2011 -- The National Association of Home Builders has released its first NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index.

The new economic index shows metropolitan areas that have shown improvement for at least six months in three key economic areas—housing permits, employment and housing prices.

“Despite the challenging conditions in the national economy and housing sector, there are areas throughout the country where we are seeing pockets of improvement” said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders.

“Housing conditions are local, and do not always reflect the national picture. We created this new index to shine a light on those housing markets across the country that have stabilized and have begun to show signs of recovery.”

“By examining key indicators of home prices, employment and housing permits data, we are using a comprehensive, but conservative method in determining which markets are improving,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.

“Last year at this time, there was not a single market that showed improvement using these criteria, and now we can point to 12 examples of growth.”