There’s good news for anyone considering buying or selling a home in the coming months.
In addition to mortgage rates continuing to sit at near-record lows, the housing market is showing signs of returning to its former stability, according to Freddie Mac's Multi-Indicator Market Index (MiMi).
What is MiMi?
Put most simply, MiMi is a metric for tracking the stability of the housing market across all 50 states and in the top 100 metro markets. It is also a gauge for market trends – whether each market is becoming more or less stable. Freddie Mac compiles MiMi by examining local data for each market – including home purchase applications, payment-to-income ratios, on-time mortgage payments, and employment data – as well as its own proprietary data.
What are the Trends?
According to the latest reports, the national MiMi value stands at 81, which is the outer range of stable housing activity. While this is substantially lower than MiMi’s high of 121.7, it does show a significant 37% rebound from its all-time low in October of 2010.
29 states and the District of Columbia have moved into their own stable range, as have 46 out of 100 of the largest metro areas. And 49 out of 50 states and all 100 metro areas, according to Freddie Mac's indicators, are showing signs of positive improvement.
"Housing markets are the strongest they've been in years with the National MiMi above 80 for the first time since 2008. Nationally, all MiMi indicators are heading in the right direction,” Freddie Mac Deputy Chief Economist Len Kiefer explained recently to Housing Wire.
What Does This Mean for Chicago?
We’ve long believed that Chicago is a prime place to buy or sell a home, and this new data only reinforces that view.
For one thing, our city is one of the few places where buying a home is less expensive than renting.
On the MiMi, markets fall outside their stable range by being too weak to generate enough demand for a well-balanced housing market or, conversely, by heating up to an unsustainably high level of activity. Our own data on neighborhoods – including the West Loop – tends to indicate that the single family home and condo markets are relatively stable and balanced between buyer and seller, which is a positive sign.
Are you looking to explore the Chicagoland housing market further? Ready to peruse our listings or begin the process of selling your current property? Drop Real Group a line! We’ve got the team and the experience to help make navigating today’s housing market as simple as possible.
