Fifty percent of Americans recently surveyed say they expect home rental prices to rise in the next year, and it’s making them lean more toward home ownership, according to the Fannie Mae October National Housing Survey, which surveyed 1,000 Americans.

"This has been a year of steady growth in the percentage of consumers with positive home price expectations," says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s senior vice president and chief economist. "Increasing household formation, encouraged by an improving labor market, is adding additional momentum to the housing recovery and putting upward pressure on rental price expectations. Expected increases in both owning and renting costs may encourage more consumers to buy and add further strength to the housing recovery already under way."

Rental price expectations continue to rise and are much higher than home price expectations, according to Fannie Mae.

More Americans say that with rising rents, home ownership is looking like a better option. Seventy-two percent of those surveyed say that now is a good time to purchase a home. Eighteen percent say it’s a good time to sell.

Still, the optimism over the direction of the housing market is met with some caution and predictions of a slow recovery--not a high speed one, according to Fannie.

Source: Fannie Mae