Respondents in Fannie Mae's first housing survey of 2017 were more likely to have optimistic opinions about the United States economy. People were also more likely to expect home prices to rise in the coming year, but opinions remained relatively unchanged on whether or not it was a good time to buy or sell a home.

Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index rose to 82.7, up 2 points from December and 1.2 points from January 2016. This index is based on six factors in Fannie Mae's National Housing Surveys, including opinions on whether it is a good time to buy or sell, job security, and expectations for changes in home prices, mortgage rates, and household income.

"Three months after the presidential election, measures of consumer optimism regarding personal financial prospects and the economy are at or near the highest levels we've seen in the nearly seven-year history of the National Housing Survey," said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "However, any significant acceleration in housing activity will depend on whether the consumers' favorable expectations are realized in the form of income gains sufficient to offset constrained housing affordability. If consumers' anticipation of further increases in home prices and mortgage rates materialize over the next 12 months, then we may see housing affordability tighten even more."

The share of respondents expecting their personal financial situation to improve in the coming year rose from 47 percent in November and 48 percent in December to 51 percent in January. This marked a year-over-year increase of 5 percentage points. Twelve percent said they believe their financial situation will worsen, unchanged from the previous year but up 3 percentage points from December.

Twenty-six percent said their household income is higher than it was 12 months ago, unchanged from January 2016 but up 4 percentage points from December. Eleven percent said their income has declined, down from 12 percent in December and 14 percent in January 2016.

Eighty-four percent said they were unconcerned about losing their job in the next 12 months, the same as December's survey but down 1 percentage point from January 2016. Fifteen percent were worried about losing their job, down 1 percentage point from the previous month and up 1 percentage point from the previous year.

Forty-six percent said they thought the U.S. economy was on the right track, up from 34 percent in October, 43 percent in November, and 38 percent in January 2016. The share of respondents who considered the economy to be on the wrong track dropped from 57 percent in November to 45 percent in December and 42 percent in January – down 10 percentage points from the previous year. This marked the first time that more respondents considered the economy to be on the right track than the wrong track since February 2015.

Half of all respondents said they expect home prices to go up in the next 12 months, up from 46 percent in December and 45 percent in January 2016. Eight percent said they expect prices to fall, the same as the previous year but down 3 percentage points from December.

The average respondent expected that home prices will increase 3.2 percent over the course of the next 12 months. This was up sharply from December's average expectation of 2.1 percent and the January 2016 average of 2.2 percent.

Despite this expectation, there was no significant shift in the share of respondents considering it a good time to sell a home. Fifty-two percent considered it a good time to put a home on the market, up 1 percentage point from the previous month and 2 percentage points from the previous year. Thirty-seven percent thought it was a bad time to sell, down 1 percentage point from December and 4 percentage points from January 2016.

Sixty percent considered it a good time to buy a home, down 2 percentage points from December and 1 percentage point from January 2016. Thirty-one percent thought it was a bad time to buy, up 1 percentage point from both the previous month and previous year.

More respondents said they expect that mortgage rates will go up. Sixty-one percent said they believe rates will increase, up from 60 percent in December and 57 percent in January 2016. Six percent said they believe rates will go down, up 1 percentage point from both the previous month and previous year.

Fifty percent of respondents said they thought getting a mortgage would be easy, down 6 percentage points from the previous month and 5 percentage points from the previous year. Forty-six percent said they thought it would be difficult to get a mortgage, up 5 percentage points from December and 6 percentage points from January 2016.

The share of respondents who said they would buy their next home if they were to move dropped to 64 percent, down 4 percentage points from both the previous month and previous year. Thirty percent said they would rent, up 2 percentage points from December and 1 percentage point from January 2016.

The average respondent expected home rental prices to increase 4.3 percent over the next 12 months. This was up from 3.8 percent in December and 4 percent in January.

Fannie Mae has issued its National Housing Survey each month since June 2010. The survey polls 1,000 Americans via telephone interview, asking more than 100 questions to gauge consumer opinions on the housing market and U.S. economy.