WASHINGTON -- The National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) indicated that 23 individual housing markets now qualify as “improving” under the system’s new parameters. Only 12 housing markets made the list in Sept.

"Both the number and geographic diversity of improving housing markets expanded this month, with Iowa, Illinois and South Carolina all newly represented by one entry or more on the list," said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, NV, in a statement. "This is further evidence that, despite the tough conditions that persist in many cities, pockets of improvement are emerging in local housing markets across the country."