NEW HAMPSHIRE

New Hampshie was named the "Most Livable State" for the second year in a row in the Morgan Quinto Press annual state statistics publication.  New Hampshire performs well across the board, boasting low unemployment, low crime and a well educated population. 

Home buyers in New Hampshire, the nation's most livable state, are getting a boost from growing inventories of homes for sale and home price appreciation a fraction of what it was in recent years.

Conditions this year allow buyers more time to shop around, more leverage to bargain over prices and a greater hope the spring thaw will further pry loose the icy grip sellers' have held on the market for most of the decade.

New Hampshire, a Morgan Quitno Press three-peat as the nation's "Most Livable State," has enjoyed home price appreciation averaging 13.5 percent during the past five years, higher than the national average of about 11.5 percent, according to Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO).

 VERMONT