The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released their “Improving Housing Markets Index” for December and I was happy to see St. Louis as a new addition to the list this month! St. Louis was one of 83 new metro areas added to the improving housing markets list from the prior month bringing the total to 201 metro areas as of this month (7 metros were dropped from the month before.)
To make this list, metros must demonstrate a sustained improvement in home sales, home prices and employment rates, for at least six-consecutive months. NAHB looks at the growth a metro has had since the “trough” (the lowest point reach during the slump) in each of these areas. The report shows an increase in St Louis building permits of 3.3 percent from the trough in 06/11, an increase in St Louis home prices of 7.7 percent since the trough in 01/12 and a 2.2 percent increase in St Louis employment since the trough in 12/09.The map below shows in green those metro areas that are currently on the NAHB Improving Markets List and, as you can see, 44 states have at least one metro area that made the list.
Source: NAHB Improvement Markets Index
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