DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 2017

Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults believe home prices in their local area will rise over the next 12 months, the highest percentage since Gallup began collecting such data in 2005. That also marks a big difference between 2008 and 2012, when no more than one-third of Americans believed home prices would increase.

Residents in the western region of the U.S. are the most optimistic, with nearly three-quarters of residents saying they expect price increases compared to slightly more than half of Midwestern and Eastern residents, according to the Gallup poll. With mortgage rates sitting below 4 percent, consumers may have more incentive to act now before home prices rise even more.

Sixty-seven percent of U.S. adults say now is a good time to purchase a home, which is down slightly from the 2012-to-2014 period when at least 70 percent said so. Unsurprisingly, homeowners (74 percent) are more likely than renters (56 percent) to say it's a good time to purchase a home, according to the poll. Higher home prices and declining views of homeownership may be behind the dip in those who say it's a good time to buy, Gallup researchers note.

Source: “More in U.S. Expect Local Home Values to Rise,” Gallup.com (April 24, 2017)