Atlanta Business Chronical Reports: 77% of Americans Expect Stable or Rising Home Prices

Seventy-seven percent of Americans expect home prices in their area to rise or stay the same in the next 12 months, according to a Gallup survey released Thursday.

The survey showed that 34 percent of Americans expect the average price of houses around them to increase in the next year, a 12 percent jump from last year and a sign that confidence in the residential real estate market is on the rise.

Gallup reports that 43 percent of Americans expect housing prices to stay the same in the coming year, a small increase from 42 percent last year.

In April 2009, the same Gallup survey showed that 63 percent of Americans thought housing prices near them would rise or stay the same. Confidence that prices will rise is strongest on the East and West coasts where 39 percent of people in each area surveyed predicted an increase in housing prices, compared to 34 percent of people in the South and 24 percent of people in the Midwest.

That confidence combined with low interest rates on government loans will mean more home sales in the short-term, Gallup said. Those sales, in turn, will stimulate the real estate market and larger economy.

Gallup’s survey found that 72 percent of Americans think it’s a good time to buy a new home, slightly more than last year — 71 percent— but 19 percent more than in 2008. Still the report highlighted the lingering issue of job creation as an obstacle to Americans feeling financially secure enough to buy a new home.