Three Pennsylvania housing markets listed in top ten of country

Of the top ten housing markets of 2015, three of the metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) are in Pennsylvania. In fact, we have even claimed first place.

Nationwide Economics recently released their 2015 first quarter Nationwide’s Health of Housing Markets (HoHM) Report. Pittsburgh was deemed the best local housing market in the country, with Philadelphia ranking third and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area coming in sixth.

To determine rankings, employment, demographics, the mortgage market and housing prices were all considered. The report reviews data from the fourth quarter of 2014.

According to the Leading Index of Healthy Housing Markets (LIHHM), the housing market across the country is healthier than at any time since 2001, which is as early as the data is available. The LIHHM is “a data-driven view of the near-term performance of housing markets based upon current health indicators for the national housing market and 373 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and divisions across the country.”

Overall, of the nation’s largest 40 MSAs, none are in negative territory. In fact, 34 are considered positive, and six are considered neutral.  Across the country, only two MSAs, Atlantic City and Bismarck, ND,  are in negative territory, and the report states those two MSAs are close to attaining neutral status.

The current value for the national LIHHM is 109.8, and according to the report, an index value more than 100 “suggests that the national housing market is healthy, with lower chances of a housing downturn over the next year as the index moves increasingly above the 100 breakeven value.”

In the fourth quarter of 2014, employment, house price growth and the mortgage market remained positive, suggesting that few regional housing markets are vulnerable to a housing downturn in the near term.