A little more than four years after reaching its nadir, the U.S. is just about at the recovery mark.
The NAHB/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI) was released this week, and the score was .97 in the second quarter. The index was .01 higher than last quarter, .05 higher than a year ago, and .19 points higher than the low of .78 in March of 2012. An index of 1.0 indicates recovery.
Of the three components that factor into the score, the nation’s house prices have surpassed normal levels and employment is near normal, but permits are subpar.
The index breaks down by region, as 146 of the 337 U.S. markets have an LMI score greater than or equal to 1.0.
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