Among the states, North Dakota will recover most quickly from the housing downturn, according to Tree.com Inc.'s LendingTree.
Economists at the lender and lead generator have created a "recovery index" ranking states based on five mortgage-related statistics. Home price appreciation during the bubble is one factor separating the worst-ranked states from their higher-ranked peers.
Cameron Findlay, LendingTree's chief economist, looked at issues such as unemployment rates, front-end debt-to-income ratios, home ownership rates, and loan-to-value ratios to assess the health of each state and the District of Columbia. The jurisdictions were then assigned a ranking between 1 and 51, with the healthiest ones rated at 10 or above.
A grade of 51 indicates a state is on life support, Findlay said. Unsurprisingly, Nevada won that dubious distinction, followed by California (50), Florida (49) and Arizona (48). New York ranked a shaky 40. Other states with poor showings include Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana and West Virginia.
New Hampshire, Maine, Minnesota and Iowa ranked in the top five.
