Shares in Ryland Group Inc. gained more than 3 percent Tuesday after the company’s chief financial officer said that limited exposure to volatile housing markets has helped it fair better than its competitors.

Gordon Milne said at a conference that, due to the Calabasas-based homebuilder’s limited exposure to “hot markets” like Phoenix and Fort Myers, Fla., Ryland has been better suited to ride out the national downturn in housing sales.

Milne also said that Ryland only has 12 percent of its assets in its home state of California, another market hit hard by the credit crunch and home sales slow down. Ryland builds luxury homes in 28 markets across the country.

Shares in Ryland’s rival, Los Angeles-based KB Home, lost 1.4 percent to $27.74 Tuesday after the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index for September, which is scheduled to be released later today, is expected to fall by 2 points to a reading of 20, according to the consensus forecast of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson Financial.

An index reading of higher than 50 indicates positive sentiment about the market – the seasonally adjusted index has been below 50 for nearly a year and a half.

The index, based on a survey of about 400 residential developers nationwide, tracks builder perceptions of current market conditions and expectations for home sales over the next six months..

Shares of Ryland added 3.3 percent, or 83 cents, to $25.68 in midday trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq. Shares have lost 60 percent since February.