Three more states have entered historic benchmark levels of housing activity, Freddie Mac reports: Alabama, Indiana and New Jersey. Their movement has contributed to a national Multi-Indicator Market Index® (MiMi®) value of 85.7, which denotes a market on the outer edge of its historic benchmark level overall.
“Housing markets are on track for their best year in a decade, and that’s reflected in MiMi,” says Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist. “The National MiMi stands at 85.7, a 5.4 percent year-over-year increase.”
According to MiMi, 41 of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia have values within range of their benchmark averages, with Utah (99.2), Colorado (96.6), Hawaii (96.3), Idaho (96) and North Dakota (95.4) ranking in the top five with scores closest to their historical benchmark index levels of 100. Eighty of the 100 metro areas have MiMi values within range, with Los Angeles, Calif. (101.1), Honolulu, Hawaii (99.5), Provo, Utah (100.8), Dallas, Texas (98.9) and Ogden, Utah (98.6) ranking in the top five with scores closest to their historical benchmark index levels of 100.
The most improving states month-over-month were Nevada (+2.95 percent), Florida (+2.14 percent), Illinois (+1.95 percent), Washington (+1.91 percent) and Alabama (+1.90 percent). On a year-over-year basis, the most improving states were Florida (+12.13 percent), Massachusetts (+9.94 percent), Nevada (+9.94 percent), Oregon (+9.43 percent) and Tennessee (+9.39 percent).
The most improving metro areas month-over-month were Las Vegas, Nev. (+3.00 percent), Palm Bay, Fla. (+2.63 percent), Tampa, Fla. (+2.59 percent), Orlando, Fla. (+2.40 percent) and Sarasota, Fla. (+2.40 percent). On a year-over-year basis, the most improving metro areas were Orlando, Fla. (+18.21 percent), Tampa, Fla. (+14.78 percent), Chattanooga, Tenn. (+14.51 percent), Palm Bay, Fla. (+14.25 percent) and Lakeland, Fla. (+13.66 percent).
“The housing market is showing strength across the country,” says Kiefer. “The South continues to show some of the biggest improvements, especially in Florida—MiMi’s purchase applications indicator is up more than 30 percent in Florida compared to last year. Meanwhile, in the West, the battle between low mortgage rates and rising house prices continues. So far, low mortgage rates have helped on the affordability front, but in hot markets like Denver, Fresno, Provo and Los Angeles, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the typical family to afford a median price home.”
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