Serving as leading indicators for the sector, two composite multifamily indices produced from NAHB’s survey of multifamily builders and property managers showed improvement in the third quarter of 2010. The NAHB Multifamily Production Index (MPI) increased to a value of 35.6, up from the 26.6 level reported for the second quarter. This is the highest the MPI has been since 2007. The NAHB Multifamily Vacancy Index (MVI), meanwhile, registered a decline (fewer vacant apartments) for the fifth quarter in a row—down to 39.2. The MVI has been declining steadily since reaching a peak of 70.2 in the second quarter of 2009.