Optimism about the housing market increased among respondents to a monthly survey conducted by Fannie Mae, with the percentage of sellers who think it is a good time to sell hitting an all-time high.

Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey for October found that these opinions are likely driven by respondents' optimism over their own personal finances. The percentage of people who expect their financial situation to improve in the next year was 45 percent, or 7 percent higher than October of 2013.

Ten percent of respondents expected that their financial situation will worsen in the next year. This is a decrease from 12 percent in September and 22 percent in October of 2013.

One in four respondents said their income was significantly higher than it was a year ago. The percentage of respondents saying their household expenses were significantly higher than a year ago was 36 percent, a 2 percent increase from October of 2013.

Respondents were more subdued on the economy, with those who think the United States economy is heading in the wrong direction outnumbering those who think it is heading in the right direction. Fifty-three percent said they thought the economy is on the wrong track, a decrease of 14 percent from October of 2013. Forty percent said they believe the economy is on the right track, an increase of 13 percent from October of 2013.

"Consumers are growing more optimistic about the housing market in the face of broader improvement in economic sentiment," said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "The share of consumers who expect their personal finances to get better is near its highest level since the survey's inception, while those expecting their finances to get worse reached a survey low."

The percentage of respondents who thought it was a good time to buy a house fell from 68 percent in September to 65 percent in October, the same percentage as October of 2013. Only 7 percent thought home prices would go down in the next year, while 44 percent expected prices would increase.

The average expected change in home prices over the next year was a 2.8 percent increase, up 0.6 percent from September and down 0.1 percent from October of 2013. The average expected change in rental prices in the next year was 3.7 percent, up half a percent from September and down 0.7 percent from October of 2013.

Respondents who thought it was a good time to sell a home increased to 44 percent, the highest since the survey was started. Thirty-seven percent of respondents thought it was a good time to sell in October of 2013, while 39 percent thought so in September.

"Home price expectations rose significantly this month, largely reversing the dip witnessed over the past four months, and the share of consumers who think it's a good time to sell a home reached another survey high," said Duncan. "The narrowing gap between home buying and home selling sentiment may foreshadow increased housing inventory levels and a better balance of housing supply and demand. These results may help drive a healthier housing market in 2015."

The percentage of people who thought mortgage rates will increase in the next year fell to 48 percent, up 3 percent from September and down 9 percent from October of 2013. Those expecting home rental prices to increase fell to 49 percent, a 6 percent decrease from September and 3 percent decrease from October of 2013.

Respondents were evenly split on the odds of getting a mortgage, with 48 percent thinking it would be easy to do so and 50 percent thinking it would be difficult. In October of 2013, 53 percent thought it would be difficult and 46 percent thought it would be easy.

Sixty-five percent of respondents said they would buy a home if they moved from their current residence, a decrease of 1 percent from September and 5 percent from October of 2013. Those saying they would rent after a move increased 2 percent from September to 30 percent in October; this also represented a 3 percent increase from October of 2013.

The Fannie Mae National Housing Survey polled 1,000 Americans ages 18 and older in a live telephone interview, asking more than 100 questions on their attitudes toward finances and housing. The survey has been conducted monthly since June of 2010.

The survey is conducted by Penn Schoen Berland. To better represent the increasing number of households with cell phones but no landline, the survey increased its rate of cell phone dialing to 60 percent in the October survey.