Consumers are increasingly optimistic about the direction of home prices, which could offer up enough incentive for those who have been waiting out the market to put their homes up for sale this year, according to Fannie Mae’s December National Housing Survey results.

Consumers expect home prices to rise 2.6 percent in the next year — the highest level since Fannie started conducting the survey in 2010.

“The highest share of consumers in the survey’s two-and-a-half year history expect home prices to increase in the next 12 months,” says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. “The view is consistent with Fannie Mae’s expectation that home prices will rise going forward on a national basis. Combined with consumers’ growing mortgage rate and rental price increase expectations, the positive home price outlook could incentivize those waiting on the sidelines of the housing market to buy a home sooner rather than later and thus support continued house acceleration.”

Also, among the survey’s highlights:

• 21 percent of Americans say it’s a good time to sell, which is a 10 percentage point increase over last year.


• 43 percent of respondents say they think mortgage rates will rise.


• 49 percent say they believe home rental prices will rise in the next 12 months.

Source: “Americans Continue to Expect Growth in Home Prices,” RISMedia (Jan. 7, 2013)