People who were selling their homes were more likely to be optimistic about the housing market during the busy spring season, according to Fannie Mae's latest monthly housing survey. By contrast, fewer buyers considered the market to be favorable to them.

Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index for April rose to 83.7, an increase of 3.5 points from March. This figure takes into account opinions on whether it is a good time to buy or sell a home, expected changes in home prices and mortgage rates, confidence about job security, and changes to household income.

Fifty-two percent of respondents thought it was a good time to sell a home, an all-time survey high. This share was a year-over-year increase of 6 percentage points and up 7 percentage points from March. Those saying it was a bad time to sell fell from 45 percent in April 2015 and 46 percent in March to 37 percent.

"We can partially attribute the sizable gain in April in home selling optimism both to a  correction for last month's unexpected dip and to typical seasonal strength in housing activity in the spring and summer," said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "Even after accounting for these factors, continued tight housing supply has led to renewed strength in home price appreciation, making selling a home a more attractive prospect this year in particular. The improved sentiment could provide an extra boost of much-needed supply for the spring selling season."

The share who considered it a good time to buy a home fell 2 percentage points to 61 percent, an all-time low. Thirty-one percent thought it was a bad time to buy, up from 30 percent in March and 28 percent in April 2015.

More respondents expected home prices and mortgage rates to increase in the next 12 months. Forty-six percent said they think home prices will go up, the same share as the previous year but up from 44 percent in March. Only 9 percent thought prices will go down, a decrease from 11 percent in March but up 2 percentage points from the previous year.

Among all respondents, the average expected increase in home prices over the next year was 2 percent. This figure was unchanged from March and down from the average expectation of 2.8 percent given in April 2015.

Half of all respondents believe mortgage rates will go up, down from 52 percent in April 2015 and 51 percent in March. Few people believe rates will decline, though. The share with this opinion dwindled from 7 percent in April 2015 and 6 percent in March to 4 percent.

More people said they think it would not be difficult to get a mortgage. Fifty-three percent expected that it would be easy, up 1 percentage point from March and 2 percentage points from the previous year. Forty-four percent said they thought it would be difficult to get a mortgage, down 2 percentage points from both the previous month and previous year.

Sixty-three percent of respondents said they would buy a home if they were to move, the same share as the previous year but down 2 percentage points from March. The share saying they would rent their next home if they were to move rose from 29 percent in March to 32 percent in April, the same share as in April 2015.

Respondents expected the average rental cost for a home to increase by 3.5 percent over the next 12 months. This expectation was down from 4 percent in March and 4.1 percent in April 2015.

People expressed more confidence in their job security, with the share who said they were not concerned about losing their job in the next 12 months increasing from 85 percent in April 2015 and 84 percent in March to 87 percent in April. Thirteen percent said they were concerned about losing their job, a year-over-year decrease of 1 percentage point and a month-to-month decrease of 3 percentage points.

Twenty-four percent indicated that their household income has increased significantly in the past year; this share was unchanged from both the previous month and previous year. The share who said their income has decreased significantly remained at 13 percent, a year-over-year increase of 1 percentage point.

People had mixed opinions on their financial outlook. Forty-four percent believe their income will increase significantly in the next 12 months, down 1 percentage point from the previous year but up 2 percentage points from March. The share expecting their financial situation to worsen also increased, from 10 percent in April 2015 and 11 percent in March to 13 percent.

Opinions toward the national economy grew more favorable, with 38 percent considering it to be on the right track. This share was down 4 percentage points from April 2015, but up 5 percentage points from March. Fifty-two percent said they thought the economy is on the wrong track, a year-over-year increase of 3 percentage points but a decrease of 6 percentage points from March.

The Fannie Mae National Housing Survey polled 1,006 people by telephone between April 1 and 22. The survey has been issued each month since June 2010.