10 healthiest housing markets in the usa : Zillow says

The healthiest housing markets in October in the United States were clustered in California and also the remaining West, based on the newly released Zillow Market Health Index.

The index on the scale from zero to 10 is really a new measure designed to illustrate the current health of the region’s housing industry relative to similar markets nationwide. It incorporates 10 separate measures of housing industry health.

“Rapid home value appreciation in the West, particularly California, is currently using a very positive effect on many other factors, including negative equity, foreclosure activity and the overall financial health of local homeowners,” comments Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow.

“But that same rapid appreciation may cause affordability issues later on in these markets, leading to potentially unhealthy conditions in the future,” he continues. “The housing market is complex, and while individual statistics can be handy in describing just one facet of confirmed market, one number on its own can’t tell the entire story. As markets continue to evolve and recover, the Market Health Index will reflect these changing trends.”

The Zillow Market Health Index, measured on a scale of zero to 10, is formed from 10 different metrics, accounting for changes in home values (as measured through the Zillow Home Value Index), the time homes remain on the market, foreclosures, delinquencies and negative equity.

If confirmed area includes a value of 8 on the Market Health Index, the region is healthier than 80% of all comparable areas covered by Zillow. The Index scores markets relative to each other; a low score does not necessarily indicate that the marketplace is performing poorly – that other markets are experiencing factors such as higher home value appreciation or lower foreclosure activity, based on Zillow.