The 2011 Builder Market Health Index

The 22 markets profiled here provide a fascinating snapshot of an industry attempting to pick itself up off the ground. Some witnessed big permit increases last year, even though their economic metrics are poor. It's as if builders there called the bottom and are preparing for an upturn. Others are bracing for a double-dip. New foreclosure tremors, the outgrowth of the economic recession this time and not the housing bust, have shaken their metrics, raising questions about when they will recover. Still others stand out for their continued, obstinate weakness. It's hard to mount much of a housing recovery when people are still abandoning a metro market, unemployment is rising, or incomes are dropping. That said, economic conditions have improved in most of the markets profiled here. The markets were selected based on what they say about current housing conditions, rather than their relative health. All the markets appear on our Builder Market Health Index, which scores the top 100 housing markets (based on building permits pulled). The index, computed by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, weighs housing conditions based on the 2011 outlook for six key variables correlated most closely to strong home sales: unemployment rate, change in unemployment, home price appreciation, household growth, median income growth, and job growth.The 2011 forecasts come from Moody’s Economy.com. Let's take a digital road trip around the country and see how the housing industry's recovery is unfolding.

Click here to view this article from its source.