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BuilderOnline.com details the country's healthiest housing markets and the Milwaukee checks in to the list, attributing it's strength to a better than average job market and its proximity to a large number of Fortune 500 companies.

14. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis.
Health Index: 73.8
2010 Population Forecast: 1,555,908
2011 Total Building Permit Forecast: 875
2012 Total Building Permit Forecast: 1,790

Finding Milwaukee so high on our list may come as a surprise. The market has been pilloried in recent years for having one of the weakest housing markets. But the analysis may have been unfair given that Milwaukee didn't share in the spoils of the housing boom.

Median home prices didn't go bananas during the housing boom. As a result, they haven't fallen as far as they have in most markets either. Home prices are expected to rise 3.8 percent next year as the housing market begins its climb from the bottom. Permits, which have fallen from roughly 5,500 in 2005, are projected to more than double to 1,790 next year.

Unemployment in Milwaukee is below the national average. Much of job growth in the last five years has been concentrated in education and health services, followed by government and leisure and hospitality. Milwaukee is home to 14 Fortune 1000 companies, including Harley-Davidson, Johnson Controls, and Northwestern Mutual.

Read the full article at builderonline.com.