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Freddie Mac: The South is Where It’s At

bubbleWhile housing moved further into stable range and closer to its historic benchmark level of activity in May, the greatest improvements were seen in the southern states, according to Freddie Mac’s Multi-Indicator Market Index (MiMi) for May 2016 released Wednesday.

The national MiMi value for May was 85, which represented a housing market on the outer range of its historic benchmark level of activity (80 being the lowest end of the stable range and 120 being the highest). It also represented an over-the-month improvement of 1.05 percent and a year-over-year improvement of 7.30 percent. The national MiMi has recovered by 43 percent since hitting an all-time low in October 2010, but still remains way below its high of 121.7 set in April 2006 prior to the housing crash.

Thirty-eight states plus the District of Columbia and 75 out of the 100 largest metros had MiMi values within range of their benchmark averages in May. The greatest improvements among states over-the-month were seen in (+1.85 percent), Georgia (+1.82), Florida (+1.69), Mississippi (+1.65), and Tennessee (+1.60). The metros with the greatest improvements over-the-month were Chattanooga, Tennessee (+3.45 percent); Orlando, Florida (+2.50); Detroit, Michigan (+2.39); and Charlotte, North Carolina; Greensboro, South Carolina; and Palm Bay, Florida all improving by +2.24.

“Nationally, MiMi in May registered 85, a 7.3 percent year-over-year increase and the 49th consecutive month of year-over-year increases,” Freddie Mac deputy chief economist Len Kiefer said. “Many of the Western markets continue to see strong home sales. However, it's the Southern states where MiMi continues to register some of the strongest gains buoyed by an improving employment picture. For example, the majority of Southern states showed stronger employment growth than the national average and all of the eight markets in Florida that MiMi tracks are now back to their historic benchmark levels of housing activity.”

Out of the four indicators that comprise the MiMi—purchase applications, payment-to-income ratio, current on mortgage, and employment—two of them (purchase applications and payment-to-income) remained in “weak” range with values of 76.1 and 68.9, respectively. The current on mortgage and employment indicators were the strongest, with values of 87.8 and 107.0 in May, respectively.

Freddie Mac MiMi graph

About Author: Brian Honea

Brian Honea's writing and editing career spans nearly two decades across many forms of media. He served as sports editor for two suburban newspaper chains in the DFW area and has freelanced for such publications as the Yahoo! Contributor Network, Dallas Home Improvement magazine, and the Dallas Morning News. He has written four non-fiction sports books, the latest of which, The Life of Coach Chuck Curtis, was published by the TCU Press in December 2014. A lifelong Texan, Brian received his master's degree from Amberton University in Garland.
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