North Dakota among the top real estate markets to watch in 2011

North Dakota may not be known for much, but housing experts say people planning on moving should get familiar with the region, as it's one of the top real estate markets to move to, according to Inman News.

The main thing going for the state, according to the paper, is its low unemployment rate, as joblessness hovers around 4 percent compared to a national average 9.1 percent. This may be due to the state's record amount of oil production over the past several years.

"The continuing oil boom in western North Dakota - about 110 million barrels in 2010 - not only results in many high-paying jobs in the West; [it] creates job for truckers and suppliers, etc., in our Fargo-Moorhead area," Morris Pyle, an associate broker for a real estate firm in Fargo, told the source.

Pyle also told the paper that the few changes seen in mortgage loan qualifying, combined with high home affordability, should make 2011 a better year than 2010 for the state.

According to Freddie Mac, 30-year-fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 4.76 percent this week from 4.88 percent.