Respondents to Fannie Mae's monthly survey on housing and the economy expressed more positive attitudes about their personal finances, a finding the corporation says is also reflected in opinions about the housing market.

In the January survey, more people said they have seen increased household income in the past year and expect their financial situation to further improve in 2015. Compared to the December results, the survey also reflected a higher share of people who consider it a good time to buy a home or say they prefer buying to renting their next home if they move.

"Consumers are as positive about their personal finances at the start of 2015 as they have been since we launched the National Housing Survey in 2010, and this optimism seems to be spilling over into housing market attitudes," said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "Consumers are more optimistic about the environment both for buying and for selling a home today, and the share who plan to own on their next move has jumped back up, reversing a three-month trend toward renting…Overall, these are good signs to start off 2015 and are consistent with our expectation that strengthening employment and economic activity will boost the speed of the housing recovery."

Those who said their household income is significantly higher than a year ago rose 4 percent from December and 7 percent from January 2014 to 29 percent. Those who expect their personal financial situation to improve in the next year rose from 44 percent in January 2014 and 45 percent in December to 48 percent in the latest survey. These responses both mark all-time high points in the survey.

Those who said their household income remains unchanged stood at 56 percent, a year-over-year decline of 7 percent and a 2 percent drop from December. Thirteen percent said their income has fallen significantly, the same amount as last year and a 1 percent decline from December.

Thirty-nine percent expect their income to remain level in the next year, falling 2 percent from January of 2014 and 3 percent from December. The share of respondents expecting their income to fall significantly in the next year was 11 percent, 1 percent lower than in December and 3 percent lower than last year.

The gap between opinions on the United States economy narrowed significantly in the January survey. Forty-nine percent think the economy is on the wrong track, a 2 percent drop from December and 5 percent drop from January of 2014. Those who think the economy is on the right track increased from 39 percent last year and 41 percent in December to 44 percent in the most recent survey.

Household expenses continued to be a concern, with the share of respondents saying these costs have remained unchanged in the past year standing at 52 percent. This was the same share as December and a 7 percent decline from January of 2014. Thirty-five percent said household expenses were significantly higher than a year ago, a 3 percent increase from last year and 1 percent increase from December. Only 10 percent experienced significantly lower household expenses compared to a year ago, a 2 percent increase from last year but a 3 percent decrease from December.

More respondents consider it a good time to either buy or sell a home. Those who say it is a good time to buy increased to 67 percent, 3 percent higher than December and 2 percent higher than January 2014. Forty-four percent considered it a good time to sell, tying a survey high. This share was 6 percent higher than a year ago and 4 percent higher than December.

The average 12-month expectation for the change in home prices was 2.5 percent. This marked an increase of 0.2 percent from December and half a percent from January of 2014.

Forty-nine percent expected home prices to go up in the next year, a year-over-year increase of 6 percent and a 3 percent increase from December. Those expecting home prices to stay the same stood at 38 percent, a drop of 7 percent from January of 2014 and 3 percent from December. Eight percent expect home prices to go down, the same as the December survey and 2 percent less than the January 2014 survey.

Fewer respondents expect mortgage rates to increase in the next year, with this share falling from 55 percent in January 2014 and 48 percent in December to 45 percent. However, only 7 percent expect these rates to go down - the same as December but a 2 percent increase from last year. Forty-one percent expect rates to remain the same, 3 percent more than December and 7 percent more than last year.

The average expected 12-month change in rent prices dropped half a percent from December but rose 0.8 percent from last year, standing at 3.6 percent in the January survey. Fifty-two percent expect rents to go up in the next year, a 1 percent decrease from December but a 4 percent increase from January 2014.

Forty-one percent expect rents to remain unchanged, an increase of 1 percent from December but a 2 percent decline from last year. Only 2 percent think rents will go down, falling 2 percent from December and 1 percent from January 2014.

The share of those saying they would buy a home if they were going to move rose to 66 percent, a 5 percent increase over December. However, this figure was still 4 percent below the level of the January 2014 survey.

Twenty-nine percent said they would rent if they moved. This marked a 3 percent year-over-year increase but a 5 percent decline from December.

Half of the respondents said they thought it would be easy to get a mortgage, a 2 percent decline when compared to both the previous month and the previous year.

Forty-seven percent said they thought it would be difficult to get a mortgage, 3 percent higher than December and 2 percent higher than January 2014.

Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey conducts telephone interviews of 1,000 Americans to gauge their attitudes toward the economy, housing market, and their personal financial situation. The corporation says the survey aims to assist with short-term stabilization of the housing market and provide further support in the future.