Gallup: “Fifty-one percent of Americans expect average home prices in their local area to increase over the next year, a sharp increase from last year and the first time it has been above 50% since 2007. These data are from Gallup’s annual Economy and Personal Finance survey, conducted April 4-14, polling more than 2,000 Americans and 1,400 homeowners on the topic of housing. This is the first of several stories on housing and homeownership Gallup will run this week, as part of Gallup’s ongoing series, “The New American Consumer.” Americans’ views of the housing market became understandably more pessimistic during the housing crisis and its aftermath. But with the housing market picking up again, so has Americans’ optimism about home prices. Gallup first asked about expectations for local home values in an Experian/Gallup Personal Credit Index survey in 2005, and at that point — near the peak of the housing market — 70% expected local home prices to rise.”