Hanley Wood's Builder Magazine, has projected Milwaukee to be among the top 20 healthiest housing markets in 2012.  The magazine has the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis market ranked at No. 14.  

Twice per year, Builder Magazine works with Hanley Wood Market Intelligence to "compile a list of the healthiest housing markets in the United States, based on forward projections for the metrics that drive housing production--jobs, price appreciation, population growth, and income growth. The projections come from Moody's Economy.com."

Here's what the publication had to say about the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis market: 

"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% 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."

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington finished at No. 1 in the survey.