The share of people who think it would be easy to get a mortgage hit a record high in Fannie Mae's most recent monthly survey on attitudes toward the housing market, economy, and personal finances. The survey also recorded a new high point for people who are optimistic about the economy, with those thinking the economy is on the right track surpassing those who think it is on the wrong track.

Fifty-four percent of respondents said they thought it would be easy to get a mortgage in the February survey, up 4 percent from January and 9 percent from February of last year. Those who thought it would be difficult to get a mortgage fell from 52 percent in February 2014 and 47 percent in January to 43 percent.

Respondents who said they feel the economy is on the right track stood at 47 percent, an increase of 3 percent from January and 12 percent from last year. Those who think the economy is on the wrong track fell to 45 percent, an all-time low which is 4 percent lower than the January share and 12 percent lower than last year.

"Continuing improvements in consumer attitudes in this month's National Housing Survey lend support to our expectation that 2015 will be a year of the economy dragging housing upward," said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "The share of consumers who think the economy is on the right track rose to a record high since the inception of the survey nearly five years ago and for the first time exceeded the share who believe it's on the wrong track."

Forty-eight percent expect mortgage rates to increase in the next year, a 3 percent increase from January but an 8 percent decrease from February 2014. Forty percent expect rates to remain unchanged, down 1 percent from January but up 7 percent from last year. Those expecting lower rates stood at 6 percent, down 1 percent from January and up 2 percent from last year.

Most respondents continue to expect home prices to increase or stay the same. Those expecting price increases stood at 46 percent, a decline of 3 percent from January and 4 percent from February 2014. Forty-one percent expect prices to remain unchanged, a 3 percent increase when compared to both the prior month and prior year. Six percent expect home prices to go down, a decrease of 2 percent from January and 1 percent from last year.

The average expected 12-month change in home prices remained unchanged from January and stood at 2.5 percent. This estimate was down from the 3.2 percent average expectation in February 2014.

More respondents continue to consider it a better time to buy than to sell. Sixty-seven percent considered it a good time to buy a home, the same as January's survey but a 1 percent decrease from a year ago. Forty percent said it is a good time to sell, an increase of 6 percent from February 2014 but a 4 percent decline from January.

The share of respondents expecting rents to increase has remained steady in the past year, standing at 51 percent in February 2014 and 52 percent in this year's January and February surveys. Thirty-eight percent expect rents to remain the same, a decrease of 3 percent from January and 4 percent from last year. Only 3 percent expect rents to go down, although this is a 1 percent increase over both last month and last year.

The average expected 12-month change in rent was 4 percent, an increase of 0.4 percent from the January survey and a decrease of 0.3 from last year.

Respondents continued to prefer buying to renting in the event of a move, with 65 percent saying they would buy a home if they were to move. This marked a 1 percent decrease from both the prior month and the prior year. Twenty-nine percent said they would rent if they were to move, the same share as the January survey and a 1 percent decrease from February 2014.

Most respondents said their personal financial situation has remained unchanged in the past year. Sixty-one percent said their household income is unchanged from a year ago, a 5 percent increase from January and 2 percent increase from last year. Twenty-four percent said their income is significantly higher, the same as the February 2014 survey and a 5 percent decrease from January. Twelve percent said their income is significantly lower, down 4 percent from last year and 1 percent from January.

Fifty-seven percent said their household expenses are about the same as last year, a 5 percent increase from January and 3 percent increase from February 2014. Thirty-one percent said expenses are significantly higher, down 4 percent from January and 5 percent from last year. Nine percent reported significantly lower expenses, the same as the February 2014 survey and a 1 percent drop from January.

Forty-six percent expect their personal financial situation to get better in the next year, down 2 percent from January but up 3 percent from last year. Those expecting their financial situation to remain unchanged increased from 41 percent in February 2014 and 39 percent in January to 42 percent in the most recent survey.

"We continue to see strength in attitudes about the current home buying and selling environment and consistently high shares of consumers saying they expect to buy a home on their next move," said Duncan. "At the same time, we still need to see further growth in consumer optimism toward personal finances and income for more robust improvement in housing market attitudes."

Fannie Mae's monthly National Housing Survey polls 1,000 Americans via telephone. The first survey took place in June 2010.