Dive Brief:

• Fewer consumers than a month ago believe now is a good time to buy a house, but more think it’s a good time to sell.

• Fannie Mae’s October National Housing Survey showed that “consumers are growing more optimistic about the housing market in the face of broader improvement in economic sentiment,” Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan said on Monday.

• Still, just 40% of Americans in the survey said they’re confident that the economy is recovering well. About 45% said they’re optimistic that their personal financial situations will improve over the next year, up 38% from last year’s survey.

Dive Insight:

The slow-but-steady increase in consumer optimism about the economy could point to a stronger housing market in 2015. That outlook jibes with recent predictions from economists at the National Association of Home Builders, Moody’s Analytics, and other residential construction-watchers. As the economy grows, more households form, and mortgage rates remain low, it appears that the pent-up demand for single-family homes will translate into more sales over the next year