It doesn't matter where you live. This is a tough time to be selling a home.

But Forbes magazine studied the 40 largest metropolitan areas to find the healthiest real estate markets in the country.

Making the grade required cities to have a strong job market, with relatively few unsold homes, vacant homes and new homes under construction.

1. San Jose, Calif. New home construction fell 63% last year, the number of jobs grew and the vacancy rates hit a national low of 0.8%, making San Jose the nation's tightest housing market.

2. San Francisco, Calif. The city's new conforming loan limit -- the maximum $729,750 -- will make it easier for many buyers to get mortgages. The vacancy rate fell and new construction was down 56%.

3. Salt Lake City, Utah. Mix a solid 3% annual job growth rate, a shrinking housing inventory and a big drop-off in construction, and Salt Lake City sellers stand to profit.

4. Austin, Texas Construction rates and population expansion are steady, which has kept vacancies at a reasonable 1.5%; having the country's fastest job growth -- 4.1% -- will also help sellers.

5. Kansas City, Mo. The number of vacant homes decreased by 40% in 2007 and the job market is expected to grow by 2% this year.

6. San Antonio, Texas Jobs are growing at the third highest rate in the country, and construction starts are down. A 1% foreclosure rate and 7.9% home price increase last quarter mean sellers are in luck.

7. Denver, Colo. Denverâ??s vacancy rate declined by 20% last year. Sellers should benefit from additional jobs and a 49% decline in construction starts.

8. Providence, R.I. Prices are declining, but Providence has the sixth lowest vacancy rate in the nation -- 1.6% -- and its 42% drop in unsold inventory overcomes a slight decline in the number of jobs.

9. Charlotte, N.C. Unsold inventory rose slightly last year, but prices are still increasing on a median and per-square-foot level. Strong job growth and in migration bode well for sellers.

10. Seattle, Wash. The city's inventory of unsold homes doubled last year, but it still has the eighth lowest rate in the U.S. Sellers also are profiting from the sixth-strongest job growth.

If your home's been on the market for a couple of months -- or more -- check out our advice on what to do with a hard-to-sell home.