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The multifamily housing market is steadily improving and continues to outpace residential housing growth.

According to , the Multifamily Production Index 鈥� a measurement of improving conditions in all types of multifamily housing 鈥� rose to 44.4 in the second quarter. The second quarter number marks the fourth straight month of improvement for the index.

The index, compiled quarterly by the NAHB, is a composite measurement of construction of low and market-rate rent units, as well as construction of for-sale units. The index and its components are scaled so that any number over 50 indicates that more respondents report conditions are improving than report conditions are getting worse.

While the 44.4 score isn’t quite to the 50 threshold, it’s a steady improvement from the 41.7 recorded at the end of quarter one and a large increase from the record-low 16 recorded at the end of the third quarter in 2008.

The increase in the index was driven by improvements in low-rent and market-rate multifamily housing, while the condominium for-sale market remained sluggish.

鈥淢ultifamily rental construction is trending upward, and it is definitely the brightest sector in the broader housing market,鈥� said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe in a statement accompanying the data. 鈥淗owever, the entire housing market continues to be fragile and subject to many external pressures, including an ongoing shortage of financing for new projects.鈥�