The numbers don’t lie: Americans are growing increasingly confident about the overall health of the national real estate market, according to a recent report.

Evidently, a recent Gallup poll showed that 56 percent of Americans expect average home prices in their area to increase, which is up 33 percent from just two years ago.

And it’s markedly increased from the low point of 21 percent in January 2011.

How The Recent Poll Was Conducted

Gallup conducted interviews between April 3 and 6 with a random sample of 1,026 adults, ages 18 and older.

These respondents lived in all fifty states as well as the District of Columbia.

These telephone interviews were conducted on cell phones and landlines and were conducted in English and Spanish.

What Do The Numbers Show About American Perceptions of the Market?

The latest poll numbers from Gallup’s annual Economy and Personal Finance poll indicate that Americans are feeling increasingly confident about the market.

Here are some of the highlights of the poll results:

• Between 2008 and 2011, Americans were more likely to expect local home values to decrease rather than increase.
• Then, in April 2012, optimism about home values started to outweigh pessimism 33 percent to 23 percent.
• Now, more than five times as many citizens believe home values will increase compared to decrease (56 percent to 10 percent).
• People living out west are most likely to think home values will increase, with 72 percent of respondents.
• Comparatively, about 44 percent of Americans living in the East expect home prices to increase.
• These figures are compared to 54 percent of Southerners and 53 percent of Midwestern residents believing that home prices will increase.
• The poll also showed that 64 percent of Americans are homeowners, with 74 of those people saying that their home is now worth more than when they bought it.
• Still, these numbers aren’t as high as they were during the real estate peak in 2006 and 2007, when 90 percent of home owners said their home value exceeded purchase price.
• 74 percent of Americans say it’s a good time to purchase a home, compared with 24 percent who say it’s a bad time.
• The poll also showed that homeowners are more likely than renters to say it’s a good time to buy a house, with 81 percent of home owners and 60 percent of renters saying that.

Experts are encouraged by the recent data because it suggests that fewer home owners are underwater and more people are interested in entering the market and investing in property. This has long-term benefits to the overall health of the market.

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Check back here in a couple of weeks for more relevant updates on the current state of the national housing market and to learn what kind of effects that activity is likely to have on buyers and sellers.