Housing markets nationwide continued to improve, with more than half of states considered to be within a stable range, Freddie Mac reported in its latest Multi-Indicator Market Index.
Freddie Mac's national index rose to 80.3 at the end of June. That's an improvement of 1.33% compared to the end of May. The index improved by 5.41%, compared to a year earlier.
"Housing markets are the strongest they've been in years," Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac's deputy chief economist, said in an Aug. news release.
The Multi-Indicator Market Index measures the stability of the housing market nationwide, as well as the housing market in 50 states and the District of Columbia, and the 100 largest metro markets.
Freddie Mac combines four indicators to create a composite value for each market: home purchase applications, payment-to-income ratios, proportion of on-time mortgage payments in each market and the local employment picture.
According to the latest index, 28 states and the District of Columbia have values within a stable range. D.C. has the highest value, at 101.7, followed by North Dakota, Montana, Hawaii, California and Utah.
Fresno, Calif., has the highest value among metro areas, at 96.8, followed by Austin, Texas, Honolulu, Salt Lake City and Los Angeles.
