Markets with positive signs include Prescott, Ariz.;
Springfield, Mass.; St. Cloud, Minn.; and Houston.
The American housing market
continues to improve, based on the latest numbers from the National Association
of Home Builders.
Its July Improving Markets Index,
which is compiled with the help of First American Title Co., lists 84 metropolitan
areas where prices, employment levels and building permits are trending higher. Markets
added to the list this month include Prescott, Ariz.; Springfield, Mass.; St.
Cloud, Minn.; and Houston.
"The modest increase in the
July IMI is encouraging because it indicates that individual housing markets
continue to regain their footing despite some recent reports of weakening in
the broader economy," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "This is
evidence that the housing recovery is slowly but surely taking root, one market
at a time."
Despite the positive signs, the
housing market still needs some help, said Barry Rutenberg, NAHB chairman and a
home builder from Gainesville, Fla.
"The geographic diversity and growing number of
metros on the latest IMI help spotlight the improvements we have begun to see
in terms of home prices and job market conditions across certain parts of this
country, which in turn are spurring more demand for new homes Rutenberg said.”That
said, our members continue to assert the need for more reasonable credit
standards and more accurate appraisal methods to perpetuate this positive momentum."
