by Tim McLaughlin, VP Weichert Financial Services

The Monthly National Housing Survey for December was released by the Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) team on January 7th with some notable moves in certain results
At 43%, the share who believes home prices will go up in the next 12 months reached the highest level recorded, up 6 percentage points over November.
21% of respondents say it is a good time to sell, a 10 percentage point increase year over year
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The CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI) showed that home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased on a year over year basis by 7.4% in November 2012 compared to November 2011.
This change represents the biggest increase since May 2006 and the ninth consecutive increase in home prices nationally on a year over year basis. On a month over month basis, including distressed sales, home prices increased by 0.3% in November 2012 compared to October 2012.
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The jobs report for December showed that the labor market closed 2012 on a note of resilience. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 155,000, in line with the 3 and 6 month averages of 151,000 and 160,000, respectively. For all of 2012, the US economy created 1.86M new jobs. Gains in December were notable in the goods producing sector, with manufacturing jobs up at a 9 month high of 25,000, while construction jobs jumped by 30,000, following a decline of 10,000 recorded in November in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Revisions showed a net increase of 14,000 in the prior two months.
The household survey showed the unemployment rate unchanged at 7.8%. November’s rate was revised up by 0.1% due to annual revisions in seasonal factors. The details of the household report were mixed as employment in this survey showed a gain of just 28,000, while the labor force rose by 192,000, reversing the sharp decline seen in November.