New jobs and a growing population helped the Houston area top the list of the nation’s healthiest housing markets for 2009, according to Builder magazine. Houston also didn’t experience the same level of rampant home price appreciation seen in places like Florida and California, said editorial director Boyce Thompson.

“As a result, you haven’t had huge declines in prices,” he said. The magazine, along with Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, ranked the 75 largest markets based on what drives real estate the most: people and employment.

The weakest markets were Detroit; Stockton, Calif.; Port St. Lucie, Fla.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; and Daytona Beach, Fla. Houston is “still benefiting from an influx of population and jobs and rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Ike,” according to the magazine, which is published by a division of Hanley Wood, a Washington D.C.-based media, marketing and research firm.

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