Fayetteville on index of improving home markets
Posted on: Sep 12, 2011Fayetteville appears on a new monthly index of improving housing markets.
The National Association of Home Builders issued its first Improving Markets Index on Wednesday to highlight metropolitan areas that have shown improvement for at least six months in three areas: Housing permits, housing prices and employment.
"Last year at this time, there was not a single market that showed improvement using these criteria, and now we can point to 12 examples of growth," David Crowe, the association's chief economist, said in a news release.
Greg West, president of H&H Homes in Fayetteville, said while he wasn't familiar with the methodology of the index, it probably was an accurate assessment of the market.
"It feels right," he said. "We're still attracting attention."
Prices are stable, West said, and while the market is slower than last year, builders continue seeking permits and building new homes, albeit a little more modestly than the last few years.
"We might not be as confident as the index says we should be," West said, "but relative to the rest of the country we're still faring better."
The other 11 cities on the index were New Orleans; Alexandria and Houma, La.; Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska; Midland and Waco, Texas; Bangor, Maine; Bismarck, N.D.; Casper, Wyo.; and Pittsburgh.
The association plans to release the index monthly.
Source:
Fayetteville Observer
http://fayobserver.com/articles/2011/09/07/1121143?sac=Bus
