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Mortgage and real estate professionals are gearing up for a consequential home buying season this year. As rising interest rates continue to cut into demand for refinance mortgages, lenders are looking to purchase loans to close the gap. Meanwhile, home prices continue to grow at an accelerated pace, raising concerns about affordability and housing supply.

From Seattle to Tampa, here's a look at the 15 hottest residential real estate markets of spring 2017. The rankings, by online real estate marketplace vendor Ten-X, take into account pricing, sales, affordability, permit activity, economic and demographic growth, as well as forward-looking data like economic forecasts and population trends. Each slide details year-over-year changes in seasonally adjusted median prices of existing homes and seasonally adjusted annual rate of existing home sales for the fourth quarter of 2016.
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Downtown Seattle as seen from the Kerry park in the evening
andreykr - Fotolia

No. 15: Seattle, Wash.

4Q16 Home Price: $481,352 (+12.19%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 44,941 (+7.10%)
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Dave Newman - Fotolia

No. 14: Washington, D.C.

4Q16 Home Price: $588,801 (+3.91%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 10,725 (+13.88%)
Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas.
Brandon Seidel/Brandon Seidel - Fotolia

No. 13: Austin, Texas

4Q16 Home Price: $281,099 (+10.08%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 32,849 (+3.60%)
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Skyline of Fort Worth Texas at night
Leena Robinson/leekris - Fotolia

No. 12: Fort Worth, Texas

4Q16 Home Price: $181,404 (+10.51%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 38,722 (+2.53%)
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Exterior view of the historic Alamo shortly after sunrise
Dean Fikar/dfikar - Fotolia

No. 11: San Antonio, Texas

4Q16 Home Price: $169,394 (+9.24%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 38,663 (+2.73%)
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Winter daytime shot of Salt Lake City. Featured is the temple from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or the Mormons
David Crowther/Legacy Images - Fotolia

No. 10: Salt Lake City, Utah

4Q16 Home Price: $279,232 (+8.62%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 15,521 (+11.10%)
Portland, Ore.
View of Portland, Oregon from Pittock Mansion.
Josemaria Toscano - Fotolia

No. 9: Portland, Ore.

4Q16 Home Price: $369,033 (+11.12%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 41,351 (+9.29%)
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Schlegel Ren - Fotolia

No. 8: Orlando, Fla.

4Q16 Home Price: $201,919 (+7.31%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 56,489 (+7.95%)
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Konstantin L - Fotolia

No. 7: Raleigh, N.C.

4Q16 Home Price: $249,521 (+8.56%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 28,670 (+7.95%)
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Nashville Skyline, Tennessee and the Cumberland River with river reflection
Joseph Sohm/spiritofamerica - Fotolia

No. 6: Nashville, Tenn.

4Q16 Home Price: $227,475 (+9.08%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 34,560 (+10.63%)
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/itsallgood - Fotolia

No. 5: Jacksonville, Fla.

4Q16 Home Price: $198,373 (+11.86%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 33,987 (+7.27%)
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Aerial view of Las Vegas strip in Nevada USA
f11photo - Fotolia

No. 4: Las Vegas, Nev.

4Q16 Home Price: $230,125 (+9.67%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 76,983 (+11.37%)
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mattkaz - Fotolia

No. 3: Columbus, Ohio

4Q16 Home Price: $192,812 (+9.60%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 42,389 (+6.62%)
Dallas
dallas; texas; city; urban; skyline; buildings; skyscrapers; metropolitan; cityscape; aerial view; sunny; clouds; offices; landscape; mirrored
Wendell "Stretch" Clendennen/balloondude - Fotolia

No. 2: Dallas, Texas

4Q16 Home Price: $221,324 (+10.64%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 76,525 (+2.94%)
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Tampa, Florida, USA downtown city skyline over the Hillsborough River.
SeanPavonePhoto - Fotolia

No. 1: Tampa, Fla.

4Q16 Home Price: $186,018 (+13.12%)
4Q16 Home Sales: 69,780 (+7.31%)
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