The hottest housing market in the U.S., according to Housing Predictor, is Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a forecast average appreciation of 9.1% for 2007.

The service lists the top 25 market in America, based on forecast average appreciation, all of which indicate 2007 appreciation rates over 5%.

So which markets are the very best?

The top 5 real estate markets, all with forecast average appreciation rates over 8%, are:

1. Albuquerque, New Mexico
2. McAllen, Texas
3. Salt LAke City, Utah
4. Austin, Texas
5. Seattle, Washington

Interestingly, with the exception of Seattle, all are in the Southwest region of the country.

Which real estate markets are doing the worst?

According to Housing Predictor, the 5 worst appreciation rates in the country belong to:

1. Miami, Florida
2. San Diego, California
3. Los Angeles, California
4. Las Vegas, Nevada
5. Boston, Massachusetts

These areas all have negative appreciation rates forecast that range from -12.7% to -9.5%.

A glance at the charts above shows another interesting fact. The markets with fastest appreciation have much more moderate median prices, in general, than those whose real estate is depreciating. With the exception of Las Vegas, the worst depreciation is occuring in areas where housing prices are quite high already. With the exception of Seattle, the rapidly appreciating areas are those with comparatively affordable median home prices.