GBAHB - BIRMINGHAM MARKET IMPROVING FOR THE 4TH CONSECUTIVE MONTH

Birmingham makes Improving Markets Index for fourth consecutive month

The National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI), included Birmingham as a housing market on an upward trajectory for the fourth consecutive month. The list expanded by a net of five markets in June, for a new total of 263 improving markets - including entrants from 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders (GBAHB) Executive Vice President Matt Morrow said Birmingham's consistent presence on the index since the market's IMI debut in March is additional confirmation that the local housing rebound no mirage.

"Every market that appears on this index is getting better," Morrow said. "But not every market remains an "improving market" for consecutive months. Each month some markets are added, and others fall off. Birmingham's run of four consecutive months is just one more indication that the housing recovery here is for real.

"With each month of documented improvement, builders increasingly gain confidence that home building recovery is here to stay," added GBAHB President Alicia Huey, owner of AGH Homes, Inc. "That confidence leads to increased construction activity, more new home options for consumers, and, ultimately, more job creation and a robust, growing local economy. An improving home building market is good news for every single person who lives in the Greater Birmingham area."

The IMI identifies metropolitan areas that have shown improvement from their respective troughs in housing permits, employment and house prices for at least six consecutive months. Twenty-nine new markets were added to the list while 24 others were dropped from it this month. New entrants included such geographically diverse metros as Salinas, Calif.; Sioux City, Iowa; Chicago, Ill.; Topeka, Kan.; Baton Rouge, La.; Laredo, Texas; and Philadelphia, Pa.

"This is the fifth consecutive month in which the IMI has designated more than 70 percent of U.S. metros as improving," observed NAHB Chairman Rick Judson, a home builder from Charlotte, N.C. "While that's a good sign that the housing recovery is on solid footing, we know that various challenges are slowing its progress - including continuing issues with credit availability for builders and buyers, as well as appraisals that aren't keeping up with the rising cost of construction."

"As market conditions improve across most of the country, some metros have moved onto the IMI list while marginal seasonal fluctuations have nudged others off of it," noted NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "This is to be expected as the recovery expands. Meanwhile, it's worth noting that the number of improving markets is now more than three times what it was in June 2012."

"The continued strength of the IMI is an indicator of the ongoing, positive momentum in housing markets nationwide as consumers move to take advantage of historically favorable interest rates and affordable home prices," added Kurt Pfotenhauer, vice chairman of First American Title Insurance Company.

This news coincides with recent reports from the Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE): "Birmingham metro area residential sales reached 1,064 units in April, an improvement in sales growth of 9.4 percent from last April. Year-to-date (YTD) residential sales through April are up a solid 7.9 percent which is consistent with the positive YTD statewide sales growth."

The IMI is designed to track housing markets throughout the country that are showing signs of improving economic health. The index measures three sets of independent monthly data to get a mark on the top Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The three indicators that are analyzed are employment growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, house price appreciation from Freddie Mac and single-family housing permit growth from the U.S. Census Bureau. NAHB uses the latest available data from these sources to generate a list of improving markets. A metro area must see improvement in all three measures for at least six consecutive months following those measures' respective troughs before being included on the improving markets list.

A complete list of all 263 metros currently on the IMI, and separate breakouts of metros newly added to or dropped from the list in June, is available at www.nahb.org/imi.