North Dakota Named Most Stable Housing Market

North Dakota; Washington, D.C.; and Wyoming rank as the most stable U.S. housing markets, according to a new Freddie Mac gauge that weighs criteria including mortgage applications, income ratios and employment.

Freddie Mac's Multi-Indicator Market Index released on Wednesday measures the stability of states and the U.S. capital, as well as the top 50 metropolitan areas. Nationally, the measure shows an improving housing market that's still outside its healthy range, the McLean, Va.-based company said in a statement.

"We're making progress, we're recovering but we're not all the way there yet," Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a phone interview. "Some places are much closer and others have farther to go."

The U.S. housing market has been healing for two years as the job market improves and competition for tight inventories fuels home-price gains. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities increased 13.2 percent in...   Read More Here...