The Tri-Cities was one of six Washington housing markets that made the January National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index because of a marked growth in house prices, employment and new building activity they experienced.

The index identifies housing markets that have shown improvement for at least six consecutive months using employment growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, house price appreciation from Freddie Mac and single-family housing permit growth from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nationwide, the number of improving markets went from 201 to 242 in January. The other Washington markets on the list are Bellingham, Longview, Seattle, Spokane and Yakima.

Bellingham, the Tri-Cities and Longview are new additions to the improving markets list when compared to December 2012, according to a news release. However, the Tri-Cities has made the list before.