The U.S. housing market is continuing to stabilize at the national level for the fourth consecutive month, according to a new report from Freddie Mac, but Connecticut continues to lag behind.

Freddie’s Multi-Indicator Market Index (MiMi) shows 38 of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and 40 of the 50 biggest metro areas are now showing an improving three-month trend. In addition, Boston, Buffalo and Nashville showed signs of their markets fully returning to normal levels of activity this month. Connecticut, however, was one of the 12 states whose markets declined for the month, and the Hartford metro area also showed weak activity. The Nutmeg State currently ranks 46th among all states and the District of Colombia for the strength of its market, down one spot from last month.

The national MiMi value stands at 74.9, indicating a weak housing market overall but showing a slight improvement (up 0.37 percent) from November to December and a positive three-month trend (up 1.09 percent). On a year-over-year basis, the U.S. housing market has improved by 4.41 percent, according to the index. The nation’s all-time MiMi high of 121.7 was April 2006; its low was 57.2 in October 2010, when the housing market was at its weakest. Since that time, the housing market has made a 31 percent rebound.

"Housing markets are getting back on track. Low mortgage rates and moderating house price growth are helping to keep payment-to-income ratios favorable for the typical family in most of the country. In fact, Los Angeles is the only metro market with an elevated MiMi payment-to-income indicator whereas most other markets remain quite affordable," Freddie Mac Deputy Chief Economist Len Kiefer said in a statement.

Sixteen of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia have MiMi values in a stable range, with the District of Columbia (97.6), North Dakota (97.2), Montana (91.1), Hawaii (89.9) and Wyoming (89.1) ranking in the top five. Connecticut was far from stability, however, with its 68.1 score on the MiMi index firmly marking it as "weak and declining market", according to Freddie.

Connecticut’s index score was up 2.6 percent from the same time last year, when it stood at 66.4. The all-time low for Connecticut was 56.9 in July 2012.

The Hartford market was slightly better than the Nutmeg State’s as a whole, hitting a 70 mark on this index. However, Hartford’s index number was down 0.1 percent from the prior month and down 0.9 percent over the past three months. Among the top 50 metros, Hartford ranks 37th, slipping one spot from November and three spots from the same time a year ago.

That puts it in sharp contrast with the rest of the country: In December, 38 of the 50 states and 40 of the 50 metros were showing an improving three-month trend. At the same time last year, 47 states plus the District of Columbia, and 47 of the top 50 metro areas, were showing an improving three-month trend.