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Sep 22, 2011

New Improving Market Index Highlights Twelve Metro Areas Showing Sustained Economic Recovery

by Rebekah Collins — last modified Sep 22, 2011 12:00 AM
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Southeast Louisiana is showing improvement and recovery in the housing market. New home sales and home sales have improved in 3 specific south Louisiana cities: Houma, Louisiana, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Alexandria, Louisiana. These 3 cities have not only had consistent improvement in housing, according to the National Association of Home Builders, but they are also economically improving and coming out of this recession. New Orleans, Louisiana, specifically seems to have weathered the recession much better with a late entree into the recession and then an early exit. If you are interested in buying a home or a new home, the Greater New Orleans area is showing stability and now is the right time to buy a home.

Pittsburgh and New Orleans Among Those Included


The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released its first NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI), a new economic index revealing metropolitan areas that have shown improvement for at least six months in three key economic areas—housing permits, employment and housing prices.

The list of metropolitan areas includes:

  • Alexandria, LA
  • Anchorage, AK
  • Bangor, ME
  • Bismarck, ND
  • Casper, WY
  • Fairbanks, AK
  • Fayetteville, NC
  • Houma, LA
  • Midland, TX
  • New Orleans, LA
  • Pittsburgh, PA
  • Waco, TX


“Despite the challenging conditions in the national economy and housing sector, there are areas throughout the country where we are seeing pockets of improvement” said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev. “Housing conditions are local, and do not always reflect the national picture. We created this new index to shine a light on those housing markets across the country that have stabilized and have begun to show signs of recovery.”

“By examining key indicators of home prices, employment and housing permits data, we are using a comprehensive, but conservative method in determining which markets are improving,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “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.”

“It’s not surprising that many of the states represented are energy rich areas,” Crowe continued. “Those are the regions still experiencing relatively strong employment, supporting housing demand.”

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 improving 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. A metro area must see improvement in all three areas for at least six months following their respective troughs before being included on the improving markets list. NAHB uses the latest available data from these sources to generate the list of improving markets.

Please visit www.nahb.org/imi for additional data, tables and a list of 2011 future economic release dates.


Click Here for the Source of the Information.

Jul 28, 2010

House Provides Five-Year Extension of National Flood Insurance Program

by Rebekah Collins — last modified Jul 28, 2010 12:00 AM
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Flood insurance is extremely important to residents of St. Tammany Parish in Mandeville, Louisiana, Covington, Louisiana, Abita Springs, Louisiana, and Madisonville, Louisiana. Ron Lee Homes and Hearthstone Homes by Ron Lee wants to make sure that our buyers are aware of legislative acts that will benefit home buyers in the Greater New Orleans area. So, we are posting this information that the United States government has extended the National Flood Insurance program 5 more years. The bill is named H.R. 5114, and Congress can re-evaluate it as a necessity when the 5 year extension is finished.

       With the latest extension of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) set to expire on Sept. 30, the House by a vote of 329 to 90 on July 15 approved legislation (H.R. 5114) that would provide a five-year extension for the program.

        Prior to House passage, NAHB sent a letter to members of Congress expressing support for congressional efforts to enact a long-term extension of the NFIP to ensure that the federally backed flood insurance program remains available, affordable and financially healthy.

       “With the NFIP having recently experienced several short-term authorization lapses that have caused severe problems for our nation’s already troubled housing markets, NAHB is pleased that H.R. 5114 provides for a long-term reauthorization through fiscal year 2015,” the letter said. “The five-year extension included in this legislation will ensure that the nation’s real estate markets operate smoothly and without delay.”

       NAHB is urging the Senate to pass a similar long-term extension of the flood insurance program.

       Established in 1968, the NFIP offers affordable flood insurance to home owners and businesses in flood plains and other low-lying areas that otherwise might not be able to obtain coverage.

       More than 20,000 communities nationwide participate in the insurance program, which currently covers about 5.5 million policyholders.

       To view the legislation, click here and type the bill number in the box at the upper center of the page.

For more information, e-mail Scott Meyer at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8144.
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