With record home prices and lots of job growth, it’s no surprise that Houston again placed on a national list of improving metro regions for residential real estate.
The Bayou City was one of 255 U.S. metropolitan areas included on the July National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index.
The group tracks housing markets that are showing signs of improving economic health across three sectors: job growth, house-price appreciation and single-family permit growth. It includes regions that have shown improvements for six months since their respective troughs.
July represented the sixth straight month in which at least 70 percent of U.S. metro areas qualified for the improving market index, the group reported. The number was down slightly from 263 metros on the list in June, but more than triple the number of regions on the list a year ago.
Here’s how Houston stacked up against other metropolitan areas on the list.
Houston home prices shot up 11.9 percent since the low point in August 2011, based on house price appreciation figures from Freddie Mac. Only 39 metro areas on the improving markets list had higher gains. Phoenix was up the most with a 35 percent gain since its low in June 2011.
Houston added 11.3 percent more jobs since its low point at end of 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only 15 metropolitan areas on the list of improving areas showed higher job growth rates since their respective troughs:
- Midland, TX 09/30/09 30.4%
- Odessa, TX 08/31/09 29.5%
- Columbus, IN 07/31/09 22.1%
- Elkhart, IN 06/30/09 21.4%
- Cleveland, TN 11/30/10 15.5%
- Provo, UT 12/31/09 15.1%
- Holland, MI 06/30/09 15.0%
- Nashville, TN 09/30/09 13.5%
- Bismarck, ND 12/31/07 13.2%
- Austin, TX 09/30/09 12.7%
- Winchester, VA 10/31/09 12.6%
- Grand Rapids, MI 07/31/09 11.5%
- San Luis Obispo, CA 07/31/09 11.5%
- Longview, TX 10/31/09 11.5%
- Fargo, ND 04/30/09 11.4%
- Houston, TX 12/31/09 11.3%
For house permits, Houston’s growth rate was similar to San Antonio, San Diego and Goldsboro, N.C., according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
New to the U.S. list this month are Cumberland, Md.; Saginaw, Mich.; Farmington and Las Cruces, N.M.; Kingston, N.Y.; and Olympia, Wash. Only one Texas city, Sherman, was among the 14 metro areas that dropped off the July list.
Provided by Chron.com