Top 5 Most Stable Housing Markets Led by Employment, Current Mortgages

The U.S. housing market is continuing to show stability as 2016 moves forward, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Multi-Indicator Market Index (MiMi).

The report, released today, showed two new states—Florida and Arizona—have entered the stable range of housing activity. That brings the total up to 35 states now in the index’s stable range of 80 to 120.

On a national level, the current MiMi level stands at 82.7—a number the index shows on the outer range of stable activity. Additionally, the market showed a .51-percent improvement between November and December and a 7.65-percent improvement year-over-year. The nation has rebounded by 40 percent since the national all-time low of 121.7, reached in October 2010.

According to Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac, these numbers bode well for the nation’s housing market.

“At the start of 2015, MiMi showed the national housing market in a weak position,” Kiefer said, “but by the end of the year it posted a reading of 82.7, which is just inside the stable range of housing activity. This is good news for the nation's housing market, but there is certainly more work to be done.”

The index also showed purchase applications jumped 9 percent in 2015—the best the U.S. market has seen since September 2013. The Current on Mortgage and Employment indicators are also slightly up.

“One encouraging sign is that not only are purchase applications solidly up, but borrowers being current on their mortgage strongly improved in 2015 as well,” Kiefer said. “The Current on Mortgage indicator also moved from a 'weak' to 'in-range' status in 2015. And of course what's really anchoring this recovering housing market is the improving employment picture, which is giving more people the confidence to purchase a home, including first-time homebuyers."

The most stable metro areas are Austin, Denver, Honolulu, Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. There are nearly double the number of stable metros as in 2014, when just 28 of the top 100 cities showed numbers within range

Freddie Mac's Top 5 Most Stable State/Regional Housing Markets (on a scale of 0 to 200, with 80 to 120 being "stable.")

1. District of Columbia (102.5)
2. North Dakota (96.7)
3. Hawaii (96.2)
4. Montana (95.6)
5. Utah (94)

To view the MiMi’s findings for yourself, visit FreddieMac.com now.