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TH E M R EP O RT | 63 O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G A NA LY T I C S S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T SECONDARY MARKET THE LATEST www.fico.com/ficoscore9/mortgage © 2016 Fair Isaac Corporation. All rights reserved. Is your migration plan ready? Learn more about FICO ® Score 9, the most current and predictive FICO ® Score. One Step Closer to the Benchmark Freddie Mac indicates that housing moves closer to historic norms W hile housing moved further into stable range and closer to its historic benchmark level of activity in May, the greatest improvements were seen in Southern states, according to Freddie Mac's Multi-Indicator Market Index (MiMi) for May 2016. The national MiMi value for May was 85, which represented a housing market on the outer range of its historic benchmark level of activity (80 being the lowest end of the stable range and 120 being the highest). It also represented an over-the-month improve - ment of 1.05 percent and a year-over-year improvement of 7.30 percent. The national MiMi has recovered by 43 percent since hitting an all-time low in October 2010, but still remains way below its high of 121.7 set in April 2006 prior to the housing crash. Thirty-eight states plus the District of Columbia and 75 out of the 100 largest metros had MiMi values within range of their bench - mark averages in May. The greatest improve- ments among states over-the-month were seen in (+1.85 percent), Georgia (+1.82), Florida (+1.69), Mississippi (+1.65), and Tennessee (+1.60). The metros with the greatest improvements over-the-month were Chattanooga, Tennessee (+3.45 percent); Orlando, Florida (+2.50); Detroit, Michigan (+2.39); and Charlotte, North Carolina; Greensboro, South Carolina; and Palm Bay, Florida all improving by +2.24. "Nationally, MiMi in May registered 85, a 7.3 percent year-over-year increase and the 49th consecutive month of year-over- year increases," Freddie Mac Deputy Chief Economist Len Kiefer said. "Many of the Western markets continue to see strong home sales. However, it's the Southern states where MiMi continues to register some of the strongest gains buoyed by an improv - ing employment picture. For example, the majority of Southern states showed stronger employment growth than the national aver- age and all of the eight markets in Florida that MiMi tracks are now back to their his- toric benchmark levels of housing activity." Out of the four indicators that comprise the MiMi—purchase applications, payment- to-income ratio, current on mortgage, and employment—two of them (purchase appli - cations and payment-to-income) remained in "weak" range with values of 76.1 and 68.9, respectively.